Surviving isn't Living
by The Lucky Bell
Summary: Nearly a year after the death of Korosensei, the class of 3-E have tried to turn their lives back to normal. It succeeded; for the most part. That was until by mistake, Karma accidentally pulled his friend, Nagisa, into the death game known as SAO. Well, at least the two had one advantage over Aincrad. They were sure that no one else had to train in an assassination classroom.
1. Comatose

_**Title:** Surviving isn't Living_

 _ **Story Summary:** Nearly a year after the death of Korosensei, the class of 3-E have tried to turn their lives back to normal. It succeeded; for the most part. That was until by mistake, Karma accidentally pulled his friend, Nagisa, into the death game known as SAO. Well, at least the two had one advantage over Aincrad. They were almost sure that no one else had to train in an assassination classroom for a year. Karma x Nagisa_

 _ **Chapter 1:** Comatose_

 _ **Chapter Summary:** Karma just wanted to play a new game with Nagisa. He just wanted to cheer up his friend, knowing that the death of their beloved teacher was just in just a few months. He just wanted to help. But he just made things worse._

 ** _Author's Note:_** _When will my stories end? Haha, who knows- I'm so unprofessional- Anyway, here's a new story. I've recently forced my mother to watch SAO so I'm in the mood to write about it again~ I just hope it's good and that I finish it... Anyway, please take in mind that some things might not be accurate or even correct. I've been looking up everything I can about anything about SAO. I'm re-watching the series, reading the books and light novels, looking up things on the website. Sorry if I misinterpret anything or mess up some info :'3_

 _Also, I will try not to follow the storyline of SAO. Meaning all the events Kirito goes through in the anime and mostly the books. I will try to come up with their own situations throughout this story. Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to search up the names of swords? Not for SAO but actual swords? So for the sake of this story needing to move on (And to save myself from more research. I've been researching for two hours-), Karma and Nagisa will start off with Anneal Blades. I know this is Kirito's beginning sword and he didn't even get it from a shop. It was a monster drop on floor 50, however I'm going to make it their first swords. I don't want to follow the usual sword ideals, where Karma will get the Anneal Blade and Nagisa the Wind Fleuret and eventually the Lambent Light. Although I do think I will let Karma have the Elucidator. I'll probably give Nagisa an Alastor sword. So fair warning~ Now please, enjoy!_

* * *

 _"I don't want to sleep. I don't want to dream, because my dreams don't comfort me."_

* * *

 _ **January XX 2021, the NerveGear was announced**_

 ** _March 13th 2021, 70% of the moon blew up_**

 _ **March 8th 2022, a yellow octopus monster is trapped in a school building after holding students hostage for a year**_

 _ **March 13th 2022, Koro-sensei died**_

 _ **May XX 2022, the NerveGear went out to the market**_

 _ **May 24th 2022, Karma bought two NerveGears**_

 _ **August XX 2022, Sword Art Online Closed Beta is launched**_

 _ **August 31st 2022, The Sword Art Online Beta is closed**_

 _ **November 5th 2022, Sword Art Online sales in stores begin. Karma buys two copies**_

 _ **November 6th 2022, Karma's life changed forever**_

* * *

 **November 6th 2022**

"Karma, I'm not really sure about this." Nagisa said to Karma as he followed the redhead into his house.

"Oh come on Nagisa, it's just a video game~" Karma closed the door once his friend was inside. Nagisa began taking off his shoes, not even looking around. He's been to Karma's house countless of times. There was no reason to study his surroundings. Yet if he knew he wouldn't see it again by dinner time like he planned, he would have took a good long look. Better yet, he would have stopped Karma from putting that damned helmet on.

"But I don't get the concept of the NerveGear. Does it really feel like you're in the game? You know I'm not a gamer, I don't understand these things..." Usually Nagisa just watched Karma play his DS. He didn't even know Karma had a NerveGear until the redhead mentioned the Sword Art Online Beta back in August. Only 1,000 people participated in the Beta but sadly, Karma was not one of them. That only fueled his desire to play the most anticipated game of the year.

Karma walked past Nagisa once he threw his coat off and pulled off his shoes. He responded to Nagisa just as he began to remove his belt and soon he would do the same with his pants. Nagisa was used to it; Karma liked changing into comfortable clothes as soon as he came home, starting with his pants. Nagisa could relate, although he wouldn't just strip in his own house so easily, even if his parents weren't home. "It feels very real." Karma started, folding his pants in his arms despite knowing he'll just throw them in a laundry basket in a few minutes. "You have to try it. Really. It's why I brought you over."

"Yeah, I know that but... I don't know. The technology seems so... advanced." Nagisa mumbled as he followed Karma down his hall.

"You can handle an experiment like Koro-sensei who can-... could move at mach 20 speed, but you can't handle the thought of being in a video game?"

Nagisa caught the slip up but he didn't mention it. It's been close to a year since Koro-sensei died, of course they'd all still be a little sensitive about the topic. Karma always insisted to Nagisa and his class that he's over it, but they all could notice the slightly higher pitch in Karma's voice and that sometimes he'd come to the meet up they had regularly at the mountain they bought with red eyes and puffy cheeks. "I guess I'll just have to wait and see." Nagisa shrugged, hoping the subject would change. Luckily Karma fulfilled Nagisa's hope after he threw his pants into the laundry basket in his room once they entered.

"So since I only got one bed, guess you'll have to lay with me." Karma smirked as he turned to Nagisa.

"Don't even Karma, I know you have a futon in your closet. I slept over here tons of times, you nugget." Nagisa pouted, drawing a laugh out of Karma.

"Way to let a guy down. Damn, friendzoned by your best friend."

"That's why you were friendzoned! We're best friends, not lovers." Karma just laughed again as a response. He pulled out the futon out of his closet and placed it by his bed.

"Really, I don't mind sharing-"

"Friendzoned, Karma. Stay at home plate, okay?"

"Oh, woe is me." Karma shrugged.

"Now can you please put some shorts on already?" Nagisa requested.

"Yeah yeah." Karma waved his hand dismissively as he went to his dresser to pull out some comfortable shorts. "While I change, why don't you do the body sync procedure with the NerveGear?"

"The what?"

Karma paused in his search for shorts and turned to face Nagisa. "There's something you have to do when you get the NerveGear. You gotta basically touch you own body, like this," He demonstrated by folding his arms, almost like he's hugging himself, and patted his own arms down to his waist. "Then you slowly pat your way down. It's so the NerveGear knows your body composition and can transfer your ideal body into the game."

Nagisa had the most confused look on his face. "O-Okay... I guess?"

"Just put the NerveGear on and follow the instructions it gives you." Karma chuckled as he continued his search for shorts. Nagisa picked up the NerveGear on the table, the one with the blue hint to it. Karma got them both NerveGear and got colored ones so they could tell the difference between their NerveGear. Just as he was about to put on the NerveGear, he heard some sirens outside. He glanced out Karma's window, watching some police cars and an ambulance speed on by. "I wonder what's going on..."

"Someone probably got stabbed over a copy of Sword Art Online. We're about half and hour late after all. The server started at 1." Karma informed Nagisa.

"Are you serious?!"

"Of course I'm serious. The server begins at-"

"I'm not talking about the server you idiot!" Nagisa got a laugh in response.

Karma began pulling on his shorts as he slowly ceased his laughing to speak. "No, I'm not serious. No one got killed over Sword Art Online. It's just a game. Now hurry up, I want to log on as soon as possible! Don't bother with an avatar, I don't want to struggle to find you."

"Do you have an avatar?" Nagisa asked as he put the NerveGear on to start the body sync procedure.

"Nah. I look like myself. I also kept my name the same. Karma, but it's in English." Karma told him.

"English? Why?" Nagisa tried focusing on Karma and the instructions given to him by the NerveGear.

"Believe it or not, but Sword Art Online isn't just for us. It was released in the U.S too. I hope your English is good, Na-gi-sa~" Karma teased the shorter boy as he watched Nagisa finish with the syncing. "Come on, let's get ready and lay down. I don't want to miss the first day of SAO."

"SAO?"

"It's short for... you know..."

"Oh! Yeah, I knew that-"

"You're so slow, Nagisa. I don't want to say Sword Art Online every time. It's a mouthfull sometimes." Karma pouted as he walked to his bed and laid down. He grabbed the NerveGear on his dresser and got ready to put it on. "Come on! I want to play already!"

"Alright alright! Geez, you're such a child." Nagisa whined as he sat down by the futon. As Karma put on the NerveGear and gave the _"Link Start!"_ command, Nagisa took out his phone and charger. He checked his phone real quick, messaging back Kayano who sent him a quick " _good luck!_ " for his first day of SAO. With a smile, he thanked Kayano and told her they would definitely be there for the meeting this Saturday. Then he plugged up his phone and turned it off.

Just as Nagisa put the NerveGear on, started it up with _"Link Start!",_ Kayano responded.

 _"Nagisa! Have you seen the news? They said they found someone who had their NerveGear taken off while playing Sword Art Online and their brain just... fried! Nagisa, don't play yet! The NerveGea probably aren't safe?"_

A few minutes passed.

 _"Nagisa? Did you already start? Please answer!"_

2 missed calls.

 _"Nagisa! I'll tell Karma-kun's parents not to take off the NerveGear when they get home!"_

 _5 missed calls._

 _7 missed calls._

 _"Nagisa... You won't believe what the news says..."_

 ** _8 missed calls._**

 ** _"They're saying anyone who removes the NerveGear dies."_**

* * *

The first time Nagisa opened his eyes in the world of Aincrad, he didn't know that this would be how he views the world from now on. It kind of looked fish eyed, like when you put glasses on for the first time, but Nagisa had a feeling he'd get used to it.

He looked down, looking at his hands that were now in fingerless gloves. Looking further down, he noticed he was wearing some small, black boots. They must be for fighting, obviously. The only other thing note worthy of his outfit was that he adorned a hide chest-plate. He knew he should probably upgrade this gear as soon as possible. He was willing to bet all beginners got this outfit, or at least something similar. Now all he had to do was find Karma and-

"Nagisa!" He turned when he heard someone call out his name. It was Karma of course. He was leaning against one of the pillars of the Warp point Nagisa was currently standing on. It wasn't turned on yet though since the second floor hadn't been opened yet. For now, it was just a spawning floor. After getting used to walking, Nagisa headed over to Karma who pushed himself off the wall. "Geez, what took you so long?"

"Sorry, I was plugging my phone up and stuff." Nagisa apologized.

"I thought you were customizing your character. I mean you can always customize it later or make a different account, but for now, let's just have some fun and go hunting. I'll show you how it all works. It's really cool." Karma smiled. Nagisa returned the smile. Karma seemed really happy that he joined him for this game... Okay, maybe Nagisa could get used to this game and the NerveGear and all that, just for Karma.

"Okay, that sounds good. I don't want to just charge off into battle." Nagisa joked, following Karma who began to walk through town, his map open so he knew where to go.

"Well, I'm sure you'll do fine. You already have special training." Karma reminded the bluenette. That's right, they had their skills from the assassination classroom. They didn't dull either. He and Karma always went out to the mountain to practice parkour and freerunning. Although they couldn't use any guns for practice, they still sparred with the rubber knives they were granted to keep. "You'll be a natural. I can already tell."

Nagisa looked around as they walked through the crowded ways of town. NPC's with their shops, players buying gear with what little starter money they had. Nagisa wondered why they weren't off buying gear like the other players. He looked back at Karma and tugged on his sleeve. Wow, he can feel even though it's a game...

"Nagisa?" Karma turned to look at Nagisa.

"Um... when are we going to get gear?" Nagisa asked, pointing to the shops.

"Nagisa, it's way to early to get gear. When we go hunting, we'll probably get drops from the mobs. Even if we don't, we'll get lots of money for the next town which will have better gear." Karma explained and continued walking.

"...I see." For once Nagisa actually did. What Karma was trying to say was that if they buy gear now then head to the next town, they wouldn't be able to get better gear because they wasted money, or rather col, on worse gear at the Town of Beginnings. "So does that mean we're going hunting now?"

"Yeah. I did some research on SAO and the packets said that although the mobs in hunting grounds do respawn eventually, after some time goes by and everyone hunts from them, the mobs slowly dwindle down until no more spawn except here and there. But by then, we'll be many floors up." Karma gave a reassuring smirk to Nagisa. "So we want to go hunting as soon as possible and get the best loot!"

"I can agree with you on that." Nagisa smiled back. "Is there anything else I should know about Sword Art Online?"

"There's no magic. Although there are potions and teleportation crystals, but I heard we don't get crystals until floor 7. So we'll have to be careful when retreating~" Karma informed his short friend.

"No magic? Then... what do we do for long range?"

"There is no long range. Just swords. There aren't even any bows." Karma told Nagisa as they neared the edge of town. "Although there are special sword skills. I searched online and asked a few of the open beta players how to do it. It's pretty simple. I'll show you as soon as we get to the field~"

"Sounds like a plan." Nagisa agreed and stretched his arms up into the air. Karma didn't mention the fact that there was no need to since one couldn't feel physical tension in SAO. Mentally on the other hand... Yes, sometimes games can get to a player. By then it was just best to back away from the game for a bit and walk around. Although Karma supposed there were things like paralysis that could make the body tense up. However that wasn't exactly the same.

The duo stopped once they made it to the edge of town. Beautiful green fields and hills close by and mountains on floating islands in the distance... The first floor of Aincrad had all terrains so the players could get used to all biomes before moving on to other floors. Whether it worked or not, it sure was beautiful indeed. "It looks so amazing..." Nagisa mumbled under his breath. Karma just silently nodded his agreement.

"Here, let's get going." Karma said, walking along the path leading out to the fields. "I really hope we don't run into any PKers."

"PKers...?"

"Player Killers. PK is short for Player Killer." Karma explained. "There are different types. The normal ones who kill other players themselves, but then there are Mob PKers. They use mobs to help kill another Player. Sometimes it backfires though."

"That's awful. Why would anyone kill someone else?" Nagisa walked closer to Karma as if someone would suddenly pop out and kill them now.

"Well, usually it's for loot... But I guess some do it for the roleplaying." Karma shrugged before giving Nagisa a thumbs up and a smirk. "But it'll be fine! You know I'll protect you~"

"My hero." Nagisa rolled his eyes and took three steps away from Karma. "How far do we have to walk?"

"Already tired?" Karma joked even though they didn't actually feel any exhaustion. "There can't be hunting grounds so close to a town since that might let a mob go into the town which would be unfair to low level players. However for the first floor, they're just a five minute walk away. Don't get used to it though~"

"Alright alright. Let's just get going already. I don't want to seem like a rookie for too long."

"A noob?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's a gaming term. A noob. It's used to label beginners."

"...I definitely don't want to be a beginner for long."

* * *

For a little while, Karma and Nagisa had been off training in the fields against small boar mobs. They were small, only up to their knees, but they really liked moving! They only had two attacks, charge and kick, and even those attacks weren't very powerful but to a low level player, it did it's damage.

Even though Karma searched up how to use the sword skill with information from other Beta players, he still haven't quite grasped the concept. Nor has Nagisa, but he had an excuse. He was new to MMORPG in general. But for Karma... it was just embarrassing. He thought he could've learned it quick! Now he looked like a noob! If only they had someone to actually teach them-

"Hey! You two down there!"

"Wha-" Nagisa turned to look at whoever yelled just as a boar charged at him. He yelped when he fell back. The boar snorted his way before trotting off as if it just won an argument. "Aww man, my health is already at yellow..."

"Heal up with a potion real quick. I'll see who's calling to us." Karma told Nagisa. There was no need to though since the person who called out jumped down the hill they stood on a moment ago.

"Hey, sorry for startling you! We just saw that you were having some trouble!" Before Karma could ask what the man meant by 'we', the player continued to speak as he held out his hand. "My name's Klein!"

Karma took in the other's appearance in an instant. Red, sloped hair over his forehead, a bandana holding it back. Cheerful grin, stubbly beard on his chin. His body language screamed 'generous' or 'kind'. _Or naive, depending on how you put it._ Karma thought to himself. He reluctantly raised his hand to shake the other's hand. At least he was Japanese...

"Ow- Hey!" Karma gave a soft shout when the man, claimed to be Klein (it's probably just a username), slapped his hand instead of shaking it.

"You don't feel pain, right?" Klein didn't seem surprised by the outburst though. He just smirked. "I know, it's just a habit. This guy," he jabbed his thumb in a direction behind him. "let a boar charge... _there_ , if you know what I mean."

"...Good to know it won't hurt being kicked there then." Karma grumbled, looking at his gloved hand before pausing. _This guy?_ Karma looked up the hill, seeing a silhouette standing at the top of the hill.

"Kirito, get down here already! I didn't take you as the shy type!" Klein urged the new player to come down.

"...I'm definitely not shy." The new player sighed and walked down the hill, tucking his sword away behind his back. It was just another beginners sword, like the ones Karma and Nagisa had. Now that he was thinking about swords, Karma noticed Klein had a different sword. _He must've bought a new sword as soon as he logged in._

"Oh, it's the first time we've met other players!" Nagisa commented, standing up after his potion completely healed him. He stood beside Karma and although he was nervous to greet the new people (they might be PKers after all!), he was excited at the same time. New potential gaming buddies! And they both were Japanese! Nagisa was so glad he didn't meet anyone speaking English yet!

"Like I mentioned, I'm Klein. This is my friend." He gestured to the player standing next to him. "He was a former Beta tester so if you have any questions, ask him! He was just teaching me the concept of sword skills."

This caught Karma's attention in an instant. His eyes went over to the new arrival (Kirito was his name?), studying his appearance. He wore the starter gear too... So Karma's knowledge with waiting to get better gear was a smart idea. Unless this Beta player wasn't the brightest.

The new player cleared his throat, shifting under Karma's gaze. "I'm Kirito..."

"Nagisa," Nagisa introduced then pointed to Karma. "That's my friend Karma."

"That's a cool user name!" Klein gave a thumbs up.

"It's my real name."

"Eh? Really? Even better!" Klein cried and moved to the other side of Karma, placing an arm over the other's shoulder. He didn't seem to notice the other stiffen under his touch. "I've had this username for a while so I didn't think twice when I decided to use it." He grinned at the two. Kirito just sighed again, his hand going to hold the bridge of his nose. He could already tell what was going to happen. "So what do-" Klein suddenly cried and fell to the ground after Karma hit him down _there._ After a moment of writhing on the ground, Klein paused. "Oh right. No pain."

"I-I'm sorry, Karma isn't that big of a fan of physical contact!" Nagisa apologized for Karma who just smiled.

"I'm sorry for bothering you... Kirito," Karma paused, getting used to saying the name out loud. "Are you really teaching him sword skills?"

"Yeah... He practically begged me to show him the ropes." Kirito gave a slight smirk as Klein shouted "I did not!". The two in conversation ignored Klein who was now being comforted by Nagisa. "Don't tell me... you two need help too?"

"I really didn't want to ask for help, but it would very much be appreciated." Karma said to the other swordsman. "I've, or rather we've, been trying to initiate the sword skills for a while now. As you could probably see, it hasn't been going very well... Nagisa already went into the yellow. Against a _boar_ mob."

"I remember being the same in the Beta." Kirito waved his hand, as if saying it was no problem at all. "I'm already teaching Klein, so I guess I could help you guys out. Just for now."

"Sounds good to me." Karma agreed. He didn't want to stick around other players for too long. They were pretty unpredictable, although Karma did kind of like this other player. He knew what he was doing and he was quiet. Although Karma could also notice his obvious discomfort with having more people around. _Solo player perhaps? I heard those are pretty rare in MMORPG games. In RPG games in general..._ Well, who was he to judge? He'd probably do the same for a while if Nagisa hadn't been there. Maybe he'll play it solo for a while, relax, level up, then think of joining a guild or at least a temporary party. Sometimes, people got to into guilds and took it very seriously.

He turned to see Nagisa talking with the other redhead who seemed cheered up. "Nagisa! We're going to party up with these guys for a little bit, okay?"

"Oh, okay." Nagisa didn't mind at all. He liked the safety he felt with being surrounded by others. He already felt like he could defeat those boar mobs now! As long as someone had his back... Not that Karma didn't! He just felt safer in numbers. Kind of like when he was in the assassination class...

"Is your friend alright?" Kirito whispered behind Karma. The redhead noticed it too, the sudden shift of happiness to uneasiness on the bluenette's face. It was subtle, but Karma was used to seeing that look. That was the look Nagisa made when he thought of... let's say the past. He didn't expect someone new like Kirito to notice though.

Karma didn't respond and just walked up to Nagisa. Even Klein seemed to know something was up and stepped back. Karma slowly raised his hand as if Nagisa would flee like a wild animal if he raised it too fast. He placed the hand on Nagisa's shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. "It's alright Nagisa. I know it's months away, but it's coming soon, isn't it?"

Nagisa didn't speak but he did nod.

"We'll visit the classroom soon, okay? How about tomorrow?"

Nagisa paused before nodding again. He shifted closer and Karma opened his arms, already knowing what Nagisa wanted. He gently hugged the smaller boy who buried his face into his chest. As the two stood in silence, holding each other, Klein leaned close to Kirito.

"Think they're an item?"

"It's not our business." Was Kirito's immediate, hushed response.

"Aww, but Ki-"Klein fell to the ground once more as he was hit _again._

* * *

So much time had passed, and Nagisa didn't even notice. They spent hours with their two new friends, Kirito and Klein, learning sword skills, dodging techniques, and so on. Nagisa never knew how fun video games could be... He didn't know if he'd like basic games now. After experiencing virtual reality like SAO with the NerveGear, he didn't think he would ever downgrade now.

It was getting late though, they could tell by the setting sun in the game and the time in their menus. So the group decided to sit down on a hill and take a few moments to relax.

"It sucks that you can't use hand-to-hand combat though." Nagisa sighed, earning a hum of agreement from Karma and Kirito.

"Why would you want to get so close to mobs though?" Klein asked. "I'd totally rather have magic. Or at least a bow."

"I kind of like SAO without magic," Karma admitted suddenly. "It's refreshing... It's not everyday you see a game without magic nowadays."

"But really, being able to fight with your body would be handy." Nagisa continued. Karma knew why, and he felt the same. They were both used to hand-to-hand combat thanks to the skills they were taught in the assassination classroom. They were used to guns, knives, fighting with their bodies. While this game did require the last skill, it wasn't entirely the same.

It was quiet for a few moments until Kirito finally spoke up, having been quiet the whole time. "There are tons of special skills in SAO. Countless. I'm sure there's a hand-to-hand combat skill somewhere. Or something similar."

"Yeah! So don't give up hope guys!" Klein smiled to the other two. Nagisa returned the smile while Karma just looked ahead. Klein pouted then sighed. "Welp, it was fun hanging around you guys, but I'm starving."

"Here? I thought we don't feel hunger?" Nagisa asked as Klein stood up.

"Nah, I mean in real life! I got a pizza coming at 5:30!" He claimed.

"Pretty smart." Kirito commented. Karma wished he thought ahead like that. He should have made the two of them food before getting on the game.

"Maybe we should log out and get a quick meal, Nagisa." Karma said to his friend who nodded and stood up beside Klein. "I'm sure my parents are home now too, so I guess we should go say hi."

"Huh? Do you guys live together?" Klein asked. Kirito stood up beside the other redhead as Karma answered.

"Yup, he's my wife-" Karma stopped mid-sentence as a fist hit his stomach.

"No, he just invited me to his house since he had my NerveGear there. He's in his bed and I'm _not_." Nagisa made sure to make this clear, but not to the two other players.

"How cruel Nagisa... I just want to love and-" Karma stopped and held up his hands once he saw Nagisa's glare. "Hey, I'm joking, I'm joking!"

"Good." Nagisa rolled his eyes. He swung his hand in the air to pull up the menu; He wasn't a complete noob, he knew how to do that at least. He clicked on the gear and went to go hit the log out button. "...Huh?"

He heard Klein make the same sound. "Where's the logout button?"

"What do you mean? It should be right in the me-" Kirito had pulled up his own menu but when he pushed the gear button, the usual _logout_ button wasn't there.

"Think it's a bug? It's only day one out of Beta after all." Klein shrugged. It was common for new games to have tons of bugs and glitches after release. All four of them would learn in a few minutes that it was no bug at all, but the start of a whole new Hell.

* * *

The four of them ran like their lives depended on it. They ran down the empty streets of the Town of Beginnings, away from the center where every player in SAO was currently held, panicking and scrambling around without knowing what to do. Not these four though. Three of them were just following the one person who knew what to do and where he was going.

"Kirito, wait!" Klein suddenly called out. Everyone slowed down to look at the man. He looked so lost and devastated. They all did. After what they were just told... No, they had to focus on themselves now.

"Klein? What's wrong?" Kirito asked. Klein glanced away before looking back at the other three.

"I can't leave them... The friends I mentioned before." Karma recalled Klein talking about his friends when they were relaxing on the hill, before the topic of skills were brought up and Nagisa mentioned a skill for hand-to-hand combat. "They're probably still back there... I need to go back."

And just like that, in a minute filled with goodbyes, goodlucks, and insults, the group of four was now one member less.

"Do you guys have friends to find too?" Kirito asked the other two. In all honesty, he did not want to deal with this much longer. He had to get to the next town as soon as possible. He couldn't have two people slowing him down. He barely wanted one person to tag along...

"No, we came in here alone..." As Nagisa began to speak, Karma thought back on the information they were just told.

People were dying, and people were going to die. That was the gist of it. SAO was a game, but it wasn't for playing. Not anymore. It was a death game. All due to Akahiko Kayaba... Karma's hands tightened into fists as he remembered how the developer told them he kept them here just to be able to control his own world.

Over 200 people already died... Some were killed by mobs, while others... their NerveGears had been removed from their bodies in the real world. Or at least it was attempted. The NerveGear fried the player's brain before the NerveGear could be removed. All those relatives who thought they were helping... Karma couldn't imagine what they were going through. But it didn't matter now. What mattered was survival. He had to get powerful quickly. He had to level up and get the best equipment and skills and-

Karma's eyes went onto Nagisa who was still talking to Kirito. No, his priority wasn't survival. It was Nagisa.

He pulled the boy into this game. Nagisa, who didn't even _play video games_ was stuck _in a video game._

Thanks to Karma who was just trying to get something to distract his friend. It was his fault... Nagisa could die, and it would be his fault.

"Take him." Karma suddenly blurted out, startling the two who were speaking.

"Karma?"

"Take him," Karma repeated, looking at Kirito. "Take Nagisa."

"Wha- Karma? Why are you acting like this?" Nagisa asked, looking at his friend with shock. Although when Kirito looked at Karma, he could see what the redhead was saying. Kirito was an ex Beta player. He knew his way around the game. He knew how to handle himself. Karma wanted him to take Nagisa with him and only Nagisa. He knew he didn't like big parties so he without hesitation offered to give his friend the help he needed from Kirito...

"Nagisa, party up with him." Karma said.

"No! Not until you give me a reason!" Nagisa argued. "We just figured out we're in a death game and you want to split up?"

"You won't survive long with me!" Even with Karma's quick wits, intelligence, and leadership, he didn't want to risk it. As an analyzer, he could tell Nagisa would be safer with someone with more experience. Once Karma, _if Karma,_ gets more experience, then he'll return to Nagisa and protect him. For now, he was safer with Kirito.

"I don't care! We do just fine together!"

"Fine isn't good enough Nagisa! This is our lives on the lines now! We can't be careless." Karma growled, trying to convince his friend to just go with the other player.

"I won't leave! It's either you or all three of us!"

This made Kirito flinch. Karma caught the action and looked down. What could he do? Nagisa was stubborn sometimes... They already proved that long ago when they had their first fight.

What should he do? Karma was at a lost. Nagisa's life was his priority right now. He couldn't focus on anything else. What would be best for Nagisa? Him or Kirito? An old friend or an experienced gamer? An ex-fellow assassin or an ex-Beta tester for this death game?

"Karma please... we can train together." Nagisa spoke soft now and touched Karma's arm. When did he get close? Karma didn't ask this outloud and just stayed quiet. "All we've went through... You don't think we can do this together?"

"Nagisa..." Karma looked into the other's eyes. "I really don't want you to die. I don't want to see you shatter into tiny, blue pieces and be erased from this world and the real one."

"That won't happen if we stick together." Nagisa claimed. He took the chance to hug the redhead when he didn't respond. "Please, Karma?"

"I don't mean to interrupt..." Kirito started, awkwardly glancing away. "But we should really get going before other players gain their wits and head to the next town."

"We?" Karma finally spoke.

"Just until we get to town. You guys can discuss you business on the way but until we reach the other town... I'll let you guys tag along. I'll take you to the next town but there, we'll split." Kirito told them, opening his menu and sending a party invite to the two.

"Is there anyway we can contact you when we go separate ways?" Nagisa asked as both of them accepted the party invite. Kirito's health bar appeared in the upper left of their screens under their own health bar.

"I'll still friend you guys. I'm not that cruel." Kirito offered a small smile which Nagisa gladly returned.

"I'm sorry, we probably wasted valuable time." Nagisa let go of Karma who hummed his agreement.

"We can go now. We do need to get to the next town like Kirito mentioned." Karma said. Kirito sighed in both relief and exasperation. That's what he's been trying to explain this whole time...

"Let's get going then. Quickly." Kirito said. With a nod from the other two, Kirito nodded back. Without another moment of hesitation, the three ran off to the next town.

* * *

Since it was already sunset by the time they were all told about how they needed to beat all 100 floors to escape, it got dark pretty quick. Karma and Nagisa were pretty worried about getting caught outside with mobs. With the risk of being killed when their HP hits 0, they really didn't want to take any chances. Even if the virtual moon did provide some light, they'd rather not get stuck in the dark with creatures surrounding them. Just as Karma considered asking Kirito how far the next town was, the swordsman stopped.

"We should probably hunker down for the night." Kirito suggested. "I would usually go on by now but with the new dangers..." He doubted any other players would risk traveling at night. Not right after they were given that kind of information by the game developer. Even if people were out at night, the'd probably stick by the Town of Beginnings with the starter mobs. "Anyway, you guys should have some sleeping bags in your inventories. Everyone gets one. We'll just get off the path, but not too far. We don't want to walk into any hunting grounds."

"We're just going to sleep out in the open?" Nagisa asked, although his menu was already open and he was searching for the sleeping bag Kirito mentioned.

"I bought a tent when I got some more healing potions... I didn't buy a big one though." Kirito informed the two as he opened his own menu. "However, the tent will help give warnings. If a mob somehow comes close enough to attack, it'll have to bring down the durability first. It'll take a few hits before it'll break, and we would be ready by then. And only the party can open the tent, much like how inns work."

"Inns?" Karma repeated. "We still have a lot to learn..."

Kirito shrugged but he was smiling as he brought the tent out of his menu. It was already set up and like Kirito said, it was unfortunately small... It looked like it could barely fit two people. Could they all squeeze in?

"Maybe we should take turns?" Karma suggested as the three stared at the small tent.

"Do you think you guys would be able to stay up at hour intervals alone? It could get boring and you could accidentally fall asleep..."

"You can too!" Nagisa said to Kirito, teasing the player who looked away with embarrassment. "It'll be fine. I can take first shift if you guys want?"

"No, you should rest up first Nagisa." Karma told the bluenette who looked at Karma with a frown.

"Karma, I can handle a simple watch..."

"Yeah, but what if a mob comes? A PKer?"

"I can take care of myself!"

"We can't risk it!"

Kirito watched with tired, but amused eyes as the two bickered. Usually he wouldn't appreciate such noisy party members but he could stand this for now. Maybe because he was tired and he knew the others were tired too. In a mental way, since your actual body doesn't tire. As much as he'd like to see the show go on, he didn't want the fight to escalate (he didn't know how serious they were when it came to bickering) and in all honesty, he wanted sleep. He already had a plan in mind to get the two to agree on something. He could tell how protective Karma was of Nagisa, so this was fool-proof.

"Well, if you want to take watch first Karma, that would be great," Kirito gave a soft smirk. "Nagisa and I can just rest first and get our rest. Thanks for offering first watch."

"Come Nagisa, we're going to bed first." Karma retorted instantly, pulling the other boy into the tent.

"B-But- Uh- T-Thanks Kirito! One of us will be out in an hour!" Nagisa promised as the two entered the tent and closed it behind them. Kirito held in his laugh as he sat down by the tent. Even if there wasn't even a wall seperating them, he wouldn't hear anything they said inside. Unless he called out to them, he wouldn't be able to hear them.

Meanwhile Karma and Nagisa pulled out their sleeping bags and although it was a tight fit, they managed to get comfortable inside.

"Karma, what the heck was that? Kirito owns the tent yet we make him have first watch?" Nagisa didn't like that. They seemed rude that way!

"I don't care. You are not staying alone in a tight space like this with a stranger." Karma grumbled, turning to face Nagisa. "No way."

"Karma, nothing like that will happen. He's just not the type." Nagisa laughed softly. Karma pouted. "You don't know! Didn't you see how excited he was to share the tent with you?"

"Yeah, okay." Nagisa teased Karma who rolled his eyes and laid his head down.

"Get some sleep... we only have an hour."

"Yeah... Alright."

A few minutes later, the silence was broken. "Hey Karma?"

"Sleep is a nice thing, you know?" The redhead didn't even open his eyes when he spoke.

"Do you think we'll make it out?"

This caused Karma to open his eyes. He looked at Nagisa who seemed so worried. "...Of course we will Nagisa. It's us, remember? We always make it out just fine." Nagisa didn't look very reassured, but he didn't voice any concerns.

"...What if your parents try to remove the NerveGears?"

"I'm sure they heard the news. They're always on their phones or the tv is on." Karma assured him.

"What will happen to our bodies? What if we're in this game for weeks? Months? Even..." _Years?_ Nagisa didn't even want to consider it. "How will we survive?"

Karma couldn't answer that at first. What would happen? "Well... first, I believe we'll go into a... you know, comatose. And who knows, maybe we'll be put in a hospital."

"How is that possible? I thought disconnecting the NerveGear from our body would kill us..."

"That's if they try to take it off our heads. The NerveGear has an internal battery so they can just transport our bodies to the hospital easily." Karma explained. "So it'll be alright, okay? I'll make sure of it. I promise."

"...Thanks, Karma." Nagisa finally smiled.

"Yeah, don't menti-"

"You guys asleep yet?" Kirito suddenly called out.

"How can we fall asleep in five minutes?!" Karma snapped. There was silence until Nagisa and Kirito laughed at his response. Yup, he was definitely not letting Nagisa stay alone with someone like Kirito!

* * *

 _ **More Author's Notes:** So how has it been so far? :3 I really hope you all enjoyed! Now I have a question for you all... Do you guys want Kirito to have a big role in the story? I didn't want to involve him too much cause I feel like some people might not like that, but then again he's a good character! But don't get me wrong, even if I do involve Kirito more into the story (Whether you guys say yes or not, he'll still be mentioned a lot), it won't change my story. It might change some aspects, but I'm still not going to follow the anime through and through. I only did it for this chapter and for any major events in the future, like floor 74 when Kirito reveals his duel wielding and such~_

 _Do you know how tempting it is to ship Kirito with anyone?_

 _Do you know how tempting it is to ship NAGISA with anyone? Well, not really anyone but-_

 _You guys have no idea on how tempted I am to write something about these two, let me tell you- If you guys ever want any "interactions" between the two, tell me :'D_

 _So do you guys want Kirito to be in the story more? As basically a third main character? It's up to you guys~_


	2. Stand By You

_**Title:** Surviving isn't Living_

 _ **Story Summary:**_ _Nearly a year after the death of Korosensei, the class of 3-E have tried to turn their lives back to normal. It succeeded; for the most part. That was until by mistake, Karma accidentally pulled his friend, Nagisa, into the death game known as SAO. Well, at least the two had one advantage over Aincrad. They were almost sure that no one else had to train in an assassination classroom for a year. Karma x Nagisa_

 ** _Chapter 2:_** _Stand By You_

 _ **Chapter Summary:** Due to certain conditions, Karma and Nagisa continue to follow Kirito in a party as they progress in the first floor. Karma is still trying to convince Nagisa to go with Kirito. Nagisa is still trying to tell Karma he's an idiot for suggesting such an idea. _

_**Author's Notes:** If you're wondering when I wrote this chapter, it was right after the first chapter was written! I wasn't going to post it until I wrote the second chapter so here we are~ Also, that means I won't take in your guy's responses until the third chapter! So you still got time to give me your opinions! _

_Okay, so remember how I said I was going to avoid following the main story except for key parts? Well, I probably won't mention the first floor fight much, everyone does that :'3 However for the 75th floor when they face the Skull Reaper and Heathcliff, I will include Karma and Nagisa in that fight. In both fights, if you're wondering. So be warned! Um, I might not make this too many chapters but to make it up to y'all, I'll make the chapters as long as I can!_

* * *

 _And, love, if your wings are broken_  
 _Borrow mine 'til yours can open, too_  
 _'Cause I'm gonna stand by you_

* * *

 **November 7th 2022, Floor 1, the path to Horunka Village**

After a couple of hours of rest (which Karma reluctantly let Nagisa sleep in the tent with Kirito. Only once though!), the three were ready to hit the road again. The sun- er, virtual sun? Didn't matter, it was still a sun. Anyway, the sun hadn't even risen yet, although the sky was just getting lighter. They all knew it would be best if they got a move on now, just so they wouldn't be followed.

Nagisa stretched with a yawn as Kirito put the tent away with a click of a button in his menu. Karma stood apart from the two, his arms crossed. It was faint, but Nagisa could catch the redhead pouting.

"Seems your friend is still upset over us having to share a tent." Kirito commented next to Nagisa. His voice was quiet and since they all just started, Kirito doubted Karma upped his Hearing skill at all.

"He always get jealous easily..." Okay, that was a lie. Usually Karma was the one who made everyone jealous, even Nagisa! "I'm sorry if he says or does anything... that's not gentlemanly."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I know not to push things too far." Kirito assured Nagisa and even gave a small smile. "I don't swing that way anyway. You're safe from me at least. I'm not sure about Karma though."

"Wha..." Nagisa didn't finish his sentence. He saw Karma starting to walk to them, so he shut up immediately.

"Ready to go?" Kirito innocently asked, causing Karma to grumble slightly.

"Yeah yeah, let's go already." Karma insisted and started walking down the path. With a shrug, the other two players in the party followed the still moody redhead.

"Man, he sure is possessive." Kirito muttered, moving his hands behind his head so he could stretch his arms.

"He's just... caring." Nagisa nervously laughed. "A lot of things happened to him so..."

As Nagisa trailed off, Kirito glanced at the boy. It doesn't seem like Karma was the only one who went through a lot. Kirito could see it on Nagisa's face. He really wondered what happened to the two... "Well, you don't have to tell me." He assured the bluenette with a wave of his hand. "It's fine. I can tell it's personal."

"T-Thanks." Nagisa responded and after that, the trip went on in silence for a while. Eventually Kirito took the lead once the paths started diverting and going in different directions. He took them through the safest paths, brought them to loot, and all and all made it pretty easy and safe. They might be pretty good at fighting, but they were still beginners so Kirito wanted to make it as easy as possible.

That was something Kirito noticed actually. Their fighting skills... They didn't seem like people who used the NerveGear a lot. Those fighting moves weren't just Kendo or Martial Arts either although if he had to compare it to anything, Martial Arts was close enough. These two fought like they already had their lives on the line before... Kirito was deadly curious, but he wouldn't dare ask. It wouldn't be right. It was personal information and even if SAO changed, that didn't mean they should.

Personal life was always that. Personal. In video games, you don't ask someone personal questions unless you've known them for a while and you trust each other. Kirito wasn't close to these people at all. He didn't even know if he'd ever tell them his real name. There was no need to anyway. For now... they should just forget about the real world. Kirito knew it was a cruel thing to say, but they had to focus on surviving now. They had to focus on the now, where they were, what they were doing, not later, where they could be, what they could have been doing.

The trip took two hours, and that's not including the time they took to take out a few groups of mobs here and there. They were close by the town now, in one of the closest hunting grounds.

"After this, we'll go into the town, restock our items, then I'll disband the party." Kirito explained, knocking a wolf back with his sword.

"Will you-" Nagisa paused in his sentence, focusing as he activated a sword skill. His sword glowed a dark blue before he leaped, slashing at the wolf. It froze before exploding into tiny blue pieces. "Will you still friend us?"

"Of course." Kirito shrugged, finishing off the wolf he had been fighting.

"Nagisa," The short boy looked over at Karma who hadn't spoken more than five words since they began their traveling. "You have to go with him."

"This again?" Nagisa frowned. "Karma, come on-"

"Hey, watch yourself!" Kirito warned Nagisa just as another wolf pounced at the player. Nagisa managed to jump out of the way in time and turned just as the wolf tried snapping at him. He pushed the wolf back with his sword before sending Kirito a grateful look. Kirito just nodded back before focusing on his own enemy. As much as he wanted to tell these two to focus on the battle, he had his own to worry about.

"There's no argument here Nagisa," Karma hissed as he faced his own wolf mob. These mobs were annoying since they hunted in packs. Sure they were weak but fighting them off all together was tough. Even Kirito would agree, although he'd never admit it out loud.

"You can't just ditch me when we need to work together, Karma!" Nagisa retorted, feeling some frustration bubble up. Who did Karma think he was? Who did he think Nagisa was?! Just some weak player? Just because he was new didn't mean he couldn't fight! "You're new too Karma, that's unfair!"

"You know I'm better at combat, that's different!"

"Physical combat, not swords!" Nagisa pointed out. "This is different. We're both new to it! That's why we should stick together!" It was getting hard to focus on talking while fighting. A wolf nearly knocked him over and stunned him, but he deflected the wolf with his sword.

"He's not new to it. You need to go with him." Karma said, referring to Kirito. "Nagisa, please-"

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Karma." After Nagisa finished off the wolf, he turned to look at Karma. He too also finished with his wolf and turned to look at Nagisa. "It's either we fight together... or not at all. Do you really just want to hide here in town, waiting for who knows how long for someone else to beat this game?"

"At least I'm still letting you fight Nagisa! Do you know how much more assured I'd feel if you stayed in town-"

"And just sit around doing nothing?" Nagisa huffed and looked away. "It's not going to be like that. Not ever. Koro-sensei wouldn't like that."

The two stood in silence after that name was mentioned. Right after Nagisa said that name, his face that was full of anger turned to shock then regret. Especially when he saw Karma's surprised face before it fell. The redhead looked down just as Nagisa took a step forward. "Karma, I-"

Suddenly the two heard a soft _thud_ by them and looked over with shock. They forgot all about Kirito! However what they saw made them jump towards their party member immediately with swords drawn.

"Is he dead?!" Nagisa asked, his sword knocking away a wolf who was about to pounce on Kirito's motionless body on the ground. Karma did the same with two other wolves, using a sword skill to knock them back.

"No, he would've shattered!" Karma checked the healthbar in the top left corner of his vision. Kirito was still in green zone... Paralyzed? No, there wasn't a symbol for it by his name. Also, there was no way mobs would be able to stun or paralyze them this early in the game. Kirito told them this during their trip. "His eyes aren't open," He added when he had the chance to look at the seemingly passed out swordsman.

"What do we do?" Nagisa asked.

Karma grimaced as he pushed back a wolf who charged at him, knocking it into the second wolf. "First, we gotta take care of these damn dogs..."

* * *

 **November 7th 2022, Floor 1, Horunka Village**

Those were the only wolves left so once the duo destroyed those wolves, they tended to Kirito. The swordsman still hasn't woken up yet, even when the two picked him up to carry him to town. Their stats weren't very high; it was a struggle to carry Kirito, even with two people and the fact that Kirito's inventory shouldn't be that heavy since the game just started yesterday. Karma made note to up his strength when he levels up.

They managed to get him to the town and the first thing they did was search for an inn. They were lucky that no one else was in town yet, otherwise they would gain unwanted attention. After they successfully found a cheap inn, Karma quickly gave Nagisa enough money to rent a two bed room. _This guy sure owes me money. And Nagisa. This is coming out of our pockets!_ Karma thought with a small scowl as they placed Kirito down on one of the beds.

"So... what do you think happened to him? Do you think he's poisoned?" Nagisa asked nervously as the two stared at the passed out player.

"No... there's no icon next to his name." Karma sighed, crossing his arms as he tried to think. What could have caused this? If he wasn't paralyzed or poisoned, what could it be? Passed out from exhaustion? But players don't physically feel exhaustion and even if they did, they already had plenty of rest. Karma closed his eyes, humming loudly as he tried to think of all possibilities. If it wasn't because of something in game... "I think something happened to his body. His real one."

"Huh?" Nagisa finally took his eyes off Kirito to look up at Karma. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, but it's the only thing I can think of." Karma put a hand to his chin, still in deep thought. "It's not any effects from the game and probably not a bug. The only thing I could think of is that something happened to his actual body."

"Do you think... someone tried taking off his NerveGear?"

"I doubt it." Karma said instantly. "It's not like the NerveGear would resist being taken off or have a back up function to stay on the players head. If someone tried taking it off, he would have shattered immediately. It's probably... I don't know. I'm trying to think of everything possible." They couldn't do much now that Kirito wasn't awake. They didn't know this town well and they certainly didn't want to head to the hunting grounds without him. Not just for protection wise for them, but for Kirito.

What if people made it to the town and pick locked the door or something? What if they used Kirito's hand to open his own menu and force him to trade all his stuff while he was asleep? They had to watch over him until he woke up. _If_ he woke up.

"I hope he wakes up..." Nagisa mumbled, going to the other bed in the room to sit down. "I... I really don't want to see someone else die before me."

Karma hesitated before going to sit by the bluenette. He sat a bit too close than what people would call normal for friends, but they both didn't care nor even notice. "I don't either Nagisa... That's why I want you to go with Kirito. He would protect you, make you stronger..."

"Why can't you come with then? Why can't we stay a party?" Nagisa asked, obviously confused.

"...I've noticed the way Kirito reacts whenever someone mentioned being in a party or even friends with him. He's a solo player. Klein told me. So... he's used to being alone. But I talked to him-"

"What, when? I haven't seen you speak to him since the decision with the tent."

"When you took second watch... You know, so he and I shared the tent for an hour..." Karma started to explain.

* * *

 _As soon as Kirito entered the tent after Nagisa exited, finally convinced by Karma to take second watch, he noticed the redhead give him a look. However it wasn't a glare like Kirito expected._

 _"Is there something wrong?" He decided to ask as he opened his menu to pull out his sleeping bag._

 _"...I know you're a solo player," Karma started, making Kirito pause. "But can you please... please take Nagisa?"_

 _Kirito looked down at Karma with surprise. He was actually requesting something from him? And said please? He didn't know Karma well, but he could tell he wasn't the type to apologize or beg._

 _"You don't think you can protect him?" Kirito asked, pushing a button on his menu. The sleeping bag suddenly spawned on the ground beside Karma. Kirito kneeled down to roll out the sleeping bag. "Why would you even trust him with me? You don't even trust me to be alone with him in a tent."_

 _"I just... I really don't want to see him die." Karma mumbled, turning on his back to look at the ceiling of the tent. "Even if that means I have to entrust him to someone else."_

 _"He didn't sound on board with your plan earlier," Kirito pointed out as he slipped into his sleeping bag and got comfortable. He turned onto his side though so he could continue to talk with Karma. As much as he wanted sleep, this was a very important conversation. "I don't want to take on an unwilling partner... and that's not an excuse. If I'm going to have someone in my party, I can't have them unwilling to fight."_

 _Working solo was dangerous and sometimes with partners was even more so. To be partners, you have to trust each other with your lives. Trust that they'll be able to switch in time before the mob could attack after you've deflected their sword, or when you go in for an attack but was too slow. He couldn't have someone who wasn't ready to fight seriously. It was harsh, but that was Kirito's condition for letting someone become a partner._

 _"I'll convince him." Karma said to Kirito, turning his head to look at the fellow swordsman. "If he agrees to go with you willingly, will you take him in your party? I promise it won't be forever. I... I want to get used to the game. What if I die while he's in my party? He'll be lost. He could die..."_

 _"Okay okay," Kirito sighed and turned onto his back like Karma. "If he agrees, I'll let him join. I'd let you join but..."_

 _"It's alright. I know it's hard to look after just one person, so I won't join." Karma assured the other. Kirito sighed in relief and closed his eyes, ready for sleep. "Kirito?"_

 _"Huh."_

 _"Look, uh..." Karma trailed off so to his curiosity, Kirito opened one eye to glance at Karma. The other was glancing away at the ceiling, his cheeks a bit pink. "...Thanks... I guess. For all your help."_

 _Kirito stared for a few moments as if trying to figure out if Karma really was blushing from embarrassment. Oh, he was totally going to tell Nagisa later._

 _"Yeah, it's no problem."_

* * *

Karma finished telling Nagisa the story (leaving out the thanks part, obviously) as the two continued watching over Kirito. Nagisa was quiet for a few moments, probably taking in the information.

Karma really didn't want him to die. He even begged someone he didn't necessarily trust just to keep him safe. But did that mean Nagisa still couldn't refuse? In the end, it was his life. He should be able to choose who he forms a party with. He didn't want to hide in town or drag down other players just because Karma didn't want to risk him dying. He had the right to refuse and keep fighting...

"Karma... I'm sorry, but I don't want to leave you. Look, if one of us dies, I want it to be together. I don't want to separate and then one day someone comes up to me and tells me you died because you fought something alone." Nagisa began to try to convince his friend. "We're better off together than one of us being alone."

"So you'd risk your life to go with me instead of with an experienced swordsman?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you."

Karma didn't seem angry, but he did have traces of frustration. "Nagisa, this isn't a game anymore! This isn't the assassination classroom-"

"How is that any different than here?!" With Nagisa's sudden outburst, Karma shut his mouth with a surprised look on his face. "Do you think that we couldn't have died in that classroom? With the assassins we fought- _you_ fought one of them alone!"

"I knew what I was doing-"

"So did I." Nagisa muttered. "Everyone we fought... everyone I fought... Takaoka, the God of Death..." Sure that wasn't much of a fight, but he had still tried and could have been killed if the assassin hadn't wanted to use him as bait for Koro-sensei. "Even Kayano died when she jumped in front of Koro-sensei that one night..."

Karma glanced away, his mind taking in Nagisa's information while trying to think of a good argument. With his reckless lifestyle, he never thought about how he could have died at any time during his time in that classroom. When he fought Grip, the assassin that mainly used his bare hands to crush skulls, he knew of the dangers but he still fought anyway. Only because he knew how to watch out for signs in enemies now. But even so, he could have died.

Nagisa was right. They really could have died at any time, so why was it different now? Because they were new? They were still kind of knew to assassination skills when they went to the island. Wow... that was over a year ago... Karma couldn't believe it.

His eyes widened when he realized something else that was a downside to being trapped in this game. Koro-sensei's... let's call it anniversary was just in a few months. How would Nagisa take it? How would... he take it? They wouldn't be able to visit the mountain again until they beat the game. That was if the game was ever beaten and if they survive long enough for that to happen.

They wouldn't see their friends again. Sugino, Kayano, Terasaka... Hell, Karma would be glad to see even Asano Gakushuu again, his rival; He wanted to see them all again. He didn't want to die. And he certainly didn't want Nagisa to die either. He wanted them both to see their friends again. They were practically family at this point.

What should he do then? Let Nagisa stay? Convince him to go with Kirito? What should he do? What can he do? It seems like no matter what he says, Nagisa isn't convinced. Kirito won't take someone into his party if they aren't willing to fight...

If Karma had to weigh his priorities, Nagisa's life was above every thing else, even his own life. Above the other thousands of players lives who are also trapped in this world. And he already decided that until he got more experience with the game, the best way to keep Nagisa alive was to leave him with a former beta tester. It was the best way to keep him alive.

With a heavy sigh, Karma turned his head to look at Nagisa. His mouth had already opened but no words came out once he noticed Nagisa's glare. "What's that look for? You look like you want to kill me..."

"I know what you're going to say. You better not say it." Nagisa ordered, causing Karma to frown.

"Nagisa, I can't help it! I want you to live Nagisa. I want you to go back to the real world and see everyone again! So-"

"I'm not leaving, Karma! How many times do I have to say it?" Nagisa asked desperately. "I can fight too, just like you-"

"But I'm not good enough yet. I promise I'll come back! Just stay with Kirito and get stronger. Please, it'll help me sleep at night..."

"And what about me? I won't be able to sleep at all if I knew you were out there alone, probably dying or already dead. I don't want to look for you on the map and see you're not there..."

Karma hesitated as he watched Nagisa who was hunched over, probably trying to contain his emotions. "Nagisa..."

"I'm not leaving you. That's final." He interrupted. The shorter player slowly got off the bed, glancing at the still passed out swordsman before going towards the door.

"H-Hey!" Karma jumped up quickly. "Nagisa, where-"

"Don't trip over yourself, Karma. I'm just going to go get supplies and restock. We used a bit of healing potions and stuff since yesterday." Nagisa told the redhead. "I'll be back so don't worry so much."

"Don't worry? How can I not worry-"

"The town was empty when we arrived. It'll be fine. It's not like anyone will jump me as soon as I leave." Nagisa rolled his eyes. Karma was surprised by the sudden... _attitude._ Why was Nagisa so angry? Karma was just concerned for his safety!

"Why don't I come with then?"

"Someone needs to watch Kirito." Nagisa said as if it was obvious. "We don't want to come back and find him gone."

"Who would kill him?" Karma asked, stepping closer. "You said the town was empty after all."

"Yeah, and what if it's not? What if someone followed us?" Nagisa argued back.

"Then I should come with you to protect you!" Karma insisted.

Nagisa could feel his frustration rise. Why did Karma have to be so stubborn? "If someone is here and they come to the inn, who's going to protect Kirito huh? I at least have a chance! He doesn't!" Why couldn't Karma get it through his stupid head? "Don't act like a hero around me, Karma. I'm not a maiden in distress."

"I-I never said you were." Karma said quickly.

"Good. Now can I leave already?"

Karma didn't answer for a few moments. Should he let Nagisa go out on his own? What if someone did follow them? He couldn't risk Nagisa getting harmed... Although the town was a safe zone. Their HP won't go down anymore if it reaches the halfway mark. Yellow zone basically. Kirito told them this during their trip as well. If a player attacks another player without starting a duel, the green cursor above their head turns orange. And if they kill a player... Karma hoped they'd never encounter a red cursor player.

He looked back at the still passed out swordsman on the bed before back at Nagisa. "...If you think someone's following you, activate that Hiding Skill Kirito mentioned before. When we were training with our sword skills yesterday." Kirito not only taught them and Klein about sword skills but other skills as well. Skills like Hiding which was good for stealth, Searching which is good for finding hidden players and good loot, and so on.

"I got it. Just watch over him, alright?" And just like that, Nagisa opened the door and left, leaving Karma alone to watch over their party leader. As Karma sat down, he groaned when he suddenly realized something.

 _Kirito is the party leader. He can't disband the party if he's asleep._

* * *

It was long after both Nagisa and Karma restocked their supplies when Kirito finally woke up. It had been a few hours and already some new players were in town, making it look more lively instead of like a ghost town. The duo hadn't really spoken to each other afte their argument but once they saw Kirito sitting up on the bed with a groan, their past argument was momentarily forgotten.

Nagisa jumped up first and went to Kirito's side immediately, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Kirito? Are you alright?"

"Um... I think so..." He looked at his hands briefly before glancing around the room. "An inn?" He muttered in confusion, looking at Karma for a few moments before looking over at Nagisa. "What happened? We were fighting the wolves then..."

"Then you suddenly collapsed..." Nagisa filled in Kirito's sentence.

"I guess we can't ask you what happened then." Karma spoke with a sigh. "I don't think it was the game though. It was probably some interference with the outside world."

"Yeah, I doubt it was paralysis. No mob can stun you for..." His eyes moved to the top right of his vision and his eyes widened slightly. "Four hours? What caused me to disconnect for that long?"

Karma shrugged. Nagisa sighed and opened his menu. With a press of a button, a bag appeared in his hand, much like a burlap sack. He handed it over to Kirito who opened it curiously. "Whoa, you guys went out for food?" He pulled out the roll of bread and water Nagisa got him. Of course eating wasn't necessary since it didn't fulfill your real life body's needs, but it sure felt nice to taste food.

"Not exactly. We took turns going out for supplies. One of us went to restock and the other watched over you." Nagisa explained with a smile. "I was the only one who thought to get us all food."

"I was focused on health potions, okay?" Karma pouted slightly. "Besides, after giving you some money to pay for this room... I'm not exactly rich right now."

"Ah... That's my fault then... I'll pay you guys back." Kirito mumbled, opening his menu as he took a bite from the bread.

"You can repay us later. Right now, focus on restocking yourself, okay?" Nagisa told Kirito who hesitated, his menu still open.

"You sure? I know I can grind the money up quick but..."

Nagisa waved his hand with a smile. "It's fine, really! We're all going after the same goal after all! No need to worry about debts and stuff now."

"Money would be nice though-"

"Karma!"

"Let a guy joke every now and then." Karma whined. Nagisa groaned and shook his head. Karma always knew when to be serious but sometimes he didn't know when _not_ to. "Mood killer." He stuck his tongue out at Nagisa who returned the face like a little kid.

They didn't expect a small laugh from Kirito, so they turned to look at the fellow swordsman. "You guys get along so well. I know it's personal but... did you guys know each other in the real world?" He asked before pausing. "Ah, maybe that was a dumb question since you've already answered that yesterday. What I mean to say is did you guys know each other for a long while?"

"Um..." Nagisa looked up in thought while Karma just watched Nagisa think. "It's been... three, nearly four years now?"

"Wow." Kirito's never kept up a real friendship for that long. It almost made him jealous. Almost. He wasn't exactly social so he wasn't really upset over not having friends. He enjoyed the peacefulness but... Sometimes he did want someone to talk to. But the thing is, he doesn't want them to be constantly around. Perhaps that was selfish of him. He just didn't find people's company comforting most of the time. That didn't mean all the time though.

With his food finished, Kirito hopped off the bed and stretched his arms into the air. "I guess I should go restock and everything..."

"Kirito?" The raven haired male turned when Nagisa called his name. "Are you still going to disband the party?"

Kirito seemed a bit surprised by the question before remembering how they planned to do that from the beginning. Once they got to town, they would decide what to do and split... "Have you guys reached an agreement yet?"

"No," Karma said before Nagisa could speak. "He still doesn't want to stay."

"You can't make me stay." Nagisa retorted with a small glare.

Kirito sighed and scratched at his head. These two were really stubborn. Couldn't they just make up their minds already? "How about I go show you some hunting grounds after I get some supplies? You can decide before the night is up."

As much as both partners didn't want to prolong the argument, they agreed with Kirito. They had to take any opportunity to level up now. Even if they were in the middle of a disagreement. "Let's get going then." With that, the three party members left the room and went into the town. Much to their surprise (especially Kirito's since he was asleep), there were already plenty of players in town. Not a ton, but a decent amount. There were some groups of friends here and there, chatting away as they walked or bought from NPC stores.

As they walked through the town, the two newbies following Kirito obviously, Nagisa noticed something strange. He didn't say anything at first, just watched. Then he suddenly began tugging at Karma's sleeve, gaining his attention. "What is it Nagisa?" Karma asked, pulling Kirito's attention as well. Nagisa pointed to a group of players who were struggling to carry something.

"Is that...?"

"It's another player." Kirito confirmed Karma's suspicions. They watched the group carry the other unconscious player towards the inn they just left. If another player passed out just like Kirito... what could it mean? "Why is everyone passing out like this? Will it happen to... everyone..." He trailed off as he looked at the other two people in his party. Oh no. "Y-You guys are in the same house, right? In real life?"

"Yeah." Nagisa confirmed with a nod.

"So if what you say is true about the cause being something out side of the game..."

Realization flashed across Karma's eyes. "Nagisa and I will pass out at the same time then."

"And who knows when it could be? You guys could be fighting in the fields like I was. If you guys hadn't been there..." Kirito for sure would have died, being attacked by the wolf mobs while he was unconscious. "Man, I really do owe you guys."

"So this means... we have to be in a party longer?" Nagisa asked, gaining a reluctant nod from Kirito.

"I'm not that cruel. You guys need someone to watch over you for when- if you pass out like I did." Kirito said.

"Yeah... I guess that's true..." Karma commented then groaned. "How long will that be? We still don't even know why players are disconnecting! If we knew why, maybe we can know when we might pass out. Even if you're there to help us, you wouldn't be able to carry us both to the inn. The two of us struggled just to carry you."

Kirito put a hand to his chin in thought. He could boost his Strength stat next time he levels up, but he doubted that would be enough to carry even one of them. Not to mention that he might not level up before (still if) they pass out. He really wished they knew why... "Maybe we should stay in town or at least close to town... We won't do any NPC quests that go far outside of town. And we'll stick with the close hunting spots."

"Even that's risky, isn't it?" Karma asked as they finally continued to walk again. They made it to the NPC shop that sold mainly basic items, such as health potions, antidotes, and so on.

Kirito brought up the NPC menu to browse through the items. Suddenly his hand paused through scrolling, his finger above the "HEALTH POTION" purchase button. "Health..."

"Huh?" Nagisa looked at Kirito in confusion as well as Karma.

"Health..." He repeated then looked between the two. When he saw their confused looks, he realized he didn't actually explain his idea out loud yet. "I think I have an idea as to why players are suddenly disconnecting for a few hours!"

The two looked surprised, probably because Kirito had an idea so fast while Karma had been pondering over it for hours. "What is it? Or um, what do you think it is? Why is health related?" Nagisa asked.

"Look, remember yesterday why Kayaba showed us all those news articles about the deaths of SAO players in the real world?" He received two nods. "If the people already know about SAO and the NerveGears and the fact that we can't leave unless we beat the game... They'll need to monitor our real bodies."

"Oh, I see what you're saying." Karma snapped his fingers. "Who knows how long we'll be stuck here? They'll want to watch over our bodies to make sure we're still getting the nutrients we need and stuff. So what do they do?"

Even Nagisa seemed to understand now. His face lit up with understanding. "They'll move us to the hospital!"

"Exactly!" Kirito was glad these two caught on pretty quick. At least they weren't dense or anything. "So I guess I've already been moved, if this is even what's going on. Hopefully you guys will be moved soon." But this means this could happen at any time. Either tomorrow, a week from now, a month... "I hope you guys get moved soon. A-And not for the purpose of needing to grind for XP! For your health too!"

Nagisa laughed softly when Kirito panicked, trying to express what he meant. "It's alright Kirito, we understand."

"I don't" Karma replied but when Nagisa lightly stomped on his shoe (good thing that didn't hurt!), he pouted. "Yeah yeah, I got you. I know what you mean... Kill joy."

"Don't be so mean, Karma." Nagisa pouted back. "Anyway, should we still go to the hunting grounds?"

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine... Now that we're aware it will most likely happen to you guys too, we can be wary." Kirito nodded. "Let's try to hunt as much as we can for today. We'll try going out hunting at least a few hours a day but like I said, we should probably stay in or near town."

"Aye Aye, sir."

* * *

 **November 13th 2022, Floor 1, Horunka Village**

It's been nearly a week and so far, Karma and Nagisa haven't gone unconscious yet. Many players finally showed up to the town and with that, many people falling unconscious. It was happening a lot now and with everyone, so the group assumed their hypothesis was correct. People of SAO were being transported to the hospital in real life so their bodies and health can be monitored and kept up on.

It was both relieving and nerve-wracking. They were being helped but at the same time, they were being put in danger. What if they disconnected during hunting or even just out of town? Anyone or anything could attack them and kill them. All of their work would be wasted...

"Maybe we should stay in town for good until it happens," Kirito suggested suddenly. The three party members were currently sitting in a NPC restaurant. It wasn't anything fancy of course since it was only on the first floor and in the second town. It was cozy though, and the food was okay.

"We can't just give up on hunting entirely until we get transported." Karma sighed and leaned back in his booth seat. "It's not like we have many NPC quests now. We did one a day since you suggested it so there's really not much left in this town."

"Besides, the quests only gives us some rewards and stuff. Hunting is the only way to actually level up." Nagisa added. He's really learned a lot in the past few days.

Kirito closed his eyes and hummed to himself. It was a habit of his when he was thinking hard. What should he do... He couldn't let them risk their lives... But then again, they needed to level up and beat the game. He paused and opened his eyes. No, that wasn't just their responsibility. Everyone else fighting was aiming to beat the game too. "Hey... we don't have to work so hard for now." He told the two across from him.

"What do you mean? We have to beat this game to get out! We can't just sit around." Karma reminded Kirito since the swordsman apparently forgot their main mission here.

"We're not the only ones trying to fight and level up." Kirito pointed out. "There are, or at least should be, plenty of other players trying to beat the game just as much as we are. And it hasn't even been a month yet. The safest bet would be to stay in town until you two are moved to the hospital. After that..." He stopped for a moment. They were supposed to part ways after this. "We'll decide on what do to next. Remember, you guys have to make your decisions soon."

"I still don't see why..." Nagisa mumbled, making Karma scoff. But he didn't start another argument.

Kirito cleared his throat to gain their attentions again. "Anyway... Is it agreed that we'll stay in town until you two are transported?"

Nagisa nodded. "Fine by me. I've been wanting to finish the missions in town anyway like you mentioned."

"As much as I don't want to..." Karma trailed off with a sigh, looking away from the group. "Fine. We'll do missions then..."

"Glad that was all cleared up." Kirito said. He really was. He didn't want these two to keep arguing while they're all trying to survive. Having grudges, petty or not, was not wise within a group. "For now, I know a few missions we could start on. They're pretty short and they let us stay in town. No need to go out of town for these missions. The last mission we'll do will probably be the one that haves us deliver something to the next town.

"Oh I see. We mind as well anyway since we'll be heading there soon." Nagisa agreed.

"Exactly." Kirito smiled before reaching for one of the menus already preset on the table. However instead of picking it up, all they had to do was click on it and the food and drinks options popped up on a different menu similar to their own. "Let's get something before we go. It would be rude if we just sat here without ordering anything. Well, if it was real life that is." Since this was just a NPC shop, they NPCs running it won't even complain or come and ask if they were going to order or not.

"I wonder if you can take food..." Karma wondered aloud. The moment he finished his sentence, he felt Nagisa hit his arm. Somehow that didn't count as an attack by the game so unfortunately for Karma, Nagisa didn't become an orange cursor player. He's joking, obviously.

"Karma! Don't think like that!"

"What, it's just NPCs! It's not like they actually cook the food or even gather the ingredients! They probably just go to the back and the food's already programmed onto the counter." Karma pouted.

"As much as I don't agree with the stealing part, he's right." Kirito commented. "It probably just spawns in once we tell the waiters our orders." He shrugged. Nagisa just pouted in return but didn't scold Karma any further.

With their decision to stay in town finally agreed on, the three opened up their menus to enjoy a well earned meal.

* * *

 **November 14th 2022, Floor 1, Horunka Village**

Nagisa wasn't sure what made him wake up but he really was glad he did. Maybe it was because some warmth was missing or because he didn't sense Karma beside him, but when he woke up, his first instinct was to look beside him where Karma was sleeping. Or rather where he should be sleeping. Instead of the usual, sleeping redhead that's been sleeping next to Nagisa for the past week, it was just an empty space.

His tired mind immediately working into overdrive, Nagisa jumped out of bed quickly. This was just a one room inn with two beds, a chair, and a small table. So if Karma wasn't in the chair (and Nagisa seriously doubted he'd be sleeping with Kirito), that means... Karma was gone. Kidnapped? Or on purpose? It probably wasn't a kidnapping. Who would have a grudge against Karma only a week into the game? The only people they've spoken to was Kirito and mainly NPCs.

Why did Karma leave then? There was no need to restock items, especially not at this time of night. Oh, why was Nagisa trying to convince himself that Karma wasn't out hunting? He knew the redhead. Even in SAO, Karma still abandons his life with recklessness to get stronger.

Whether Karma actually was out hunting or not, it was better safe than sorry. So Nagisa quickly went to Kirito's bed, shaking the other awake. He sure hoped Kirito didn't hate being woken up in the middle of the night... "Kirito! Karma is gone!"

Kirito was slowly opening his eyes but once Nagisa mentioned that, his eyes opened wide and he sat up instantly. "What? He's gone?" He looked around the room as if he had to confirm it for himself. "Where do you think he's gone?"

"Knowing him, he's probably out in the fields!" Nagisa told Kirito, moving back from his bed so Kirito could get up. He swiftly opened his menu and clicked a button twice. The first time his light armor he had gotten from the beginning of the game appeared on his body and the second time was his sword appearing on his side. Kirito was doing the same. What, did you think they just wore their armor and weapons to bed? Virtual or not, sleep was still sleep.

"Let's get going quickly. He's probably in the fields closest to the town. Follow me!" Once they were suited up, Kirito dashed out the room with Nagisa behind him. If this was for nothing, if Karma was actually at some restaurant just for a bite to eat... Well, at least they couldn't see Kirito didn't care. The way he jumped up once Nagisa mentioned Karma's absence, it showed he wasn't just doing this to be nice. He might be a loner, but he's a good person.

The two left the inn, running past a few surprised players who watched them rush off. "How come people are out this late?" Nagisa asked as they ran through the streets of Horunka.

"Some people are probably still used to playing games at night. I used to do the same during the summer when I didn't have to worry about school." Kirito explained. Although now that the game was actually a death trap now, Kirito knew sleep will be very important. "And there are also people who want to get stronger, like-"

"I know." Nagisa cut him off, although not on purpose. He still couldn't believe Karma went out on his own! What if he got killed? Nagisa and Kirito would wake up and find the third HP bar in their party gone. Nagisa would somehow blame himself and Kirito would be forced to take a new player under his wing...

In no time at all, Nagisa and Kirito arrived to the closest hunting ground. Small mobs were starting to spawn close by, but there was no sign of Karma or any other players. "No... where is he?" Nagisa questioned aloud, looking around frantically. Kirito looked around as well before glancing at Karma's health bar in the top left corner of his vision. Still green...

"Isn't there a faster way to find him?" Nagisa asked almost desperately. Kirito tried to think before suddenly slapping his own forehead. He must've been too tired to think of messaging or tracking Karma!

Kirito quickly swiped open his menu, ready to click on Karma's name and shoot him a message. Just before he clicked on his name, he was startled by a _thud_ right next to him. He looked over and saw Nagisa on the ground. His eyes were closed as if he was sleeping. Oh no! Kirito quickly looked back at the partys' health bars. He looked just in time to see Karma's health suddenly drop about twenty percent. It wasn't in the orange yet, but who knows how long it could take for it to completely deplete!

"Nagisa!" Kirito called out before remembering that the boy was technically disconnected. Curse his tired mind! Kirito got off the messages and tried to track Karma. The sound of rushing hooves behind him stopped him from hitting the "TRACK" button by Karma's name, which would show Kirito his location. The swordsman barely had enough time to dodge the small boar mob. Okay, he had to wake up completely if he was going to save Nagisa and Karma! "I swear, you better not die!" He said to no one in particular as he lunged at the boar, his sword drawn.

* * *

"If you ever do that again, I will personally kill you myself with your own sword!"

"I-"

"Do you know how worried we were?"

"Sor-"

"I honestly thought you were idiotic enough to go out alone in the fields at night for XP!"

"Sorry-"

Kirito watched the exchange in front of him with amusement. He expected the two to bicker like they always did, but it was different this time. Nagisa was the only one getting angry while Karma sat on the bed, his head bowed in an apology. Kirito honestly didn't expect this outcome.

Last night when he saw Karma's health drop, he thought for sure that the redhead was in a field somewhere. He hadn't a lot of time to track Karma while defending Nagisa from the mobs. When he finally got a break, he (barely) managed to drag Nagisa closer to town before checking where Karma was on the map. He was shocked to see him... in town. He had been in town the whole time? But how did his HP drop?

Kirito managed to get Nagisa more into town before a few of the nightly players helped him get Nagisa to Karma's location. He too was unconscious and being watched over a worried party of players. Apparently they had just been chatting by the tower, ready to go hunt when Karma's body literally just fell by them. Later on the redhead told them that he had been at the tower the whole time, looking at the nightly sky of digital codes. He claimed he couldn't sleep and went to the tower for peace and quiet. So when he got disconnected, his body fell and he took fall damage. Since he was in town, his health wouldn't have gone past the orange zone, but it was still worrying.

Honestly, Kirito was just relieved that they were both alive and fine. No one died and everyone was successfully transferred to a hospital. If that's indeed what was going on here.

"I really can't believe you." Nagisa fumed, still pacing around in their room in the inn.

"I really apologize, Nagisa. I didn't mean to startle you guys." Karma stood up with a sigh. He didn't think they'd think he was stupid enough to risk his life like that... "Honestly Nagisa, you thought I'd be that much of an idiot? Do you forget who scored 100 in all of his tests on finals?"

"You're still an idiot!" Nagisa claimed. He finally stopped pacing so he could face Karma. "We ran out there to save you! Kirito had to save me because I thought..." Nagisa trailed off, his voice now softer. He could have died because he thought Karma was risking his life... "You could have sent a message and I would have seen it when I woke up."

"I didn't think I'd take that long." Karma said which was he truth. He only meant to be out there for maybe ten minutes but he got lost in his thoughts. "Why did you think I'd go out alone anyway? Not when we had the chances of going unconscious."

"Because you seem so desperate to get away from me." Nagisa responded, surprising Karma and even Kirito. When did Karma ever give off the vibes that he wanted to get rid of Nagisa? "U-Um, I don't mean it like that," He clarified quickly when he saw their shocked faces. "I mean... you're so quick to doubt yourself when you're the better fighter between the two of us. Yet you want to distance ourselves in fear that you might end up getting me killed..."

"Nagisa..."

"Let me finish," Nagisa requested just as Karma began to speak. "Karma, just please, give it up. Even if you left us one day, I will leave the party, I'll leave Kirito, and focus all of my time in tracking you down. I won't focus on beating the game and certainly not my own life. So the only way to keep me from basically suicide, stay with me."

Well, damn. Kirito really didn't think Nagisa had this in him. Even Karma didn't! The other would just search the whole game for him? Risking his own life just to stay by Karma's side? What an odd character... Kirito couldn't help but chuckle under his breath. This duo certainly surprised him... maybe, just maybe, he could keep them along. If they chose to stay that is. "You heard him," He suddenly commented to Karma. "If you leave, I already know there's no chance in me stopping him."

Nagisa gave him a small smile, seeing his attempt to help the shorter boy. Karma looked between the two and sighed deeply. 2 v 1... How unfair. "You guys are too cruel," He groaned, scratching at his head. "I guess... Alright, fine. You have me at gunpoint. Or- uh, _swordpoint_. I'll stay with you, Nagisa."

"Don't ever try to come up with a pun again." The other two party members groaned at the same time. Karma just smirked in triumph.

* * *

 _Ugh, finally done- I already wrote this author's note but before I could save, an ad popped up and I accidentally clicked it so I lost my author's note- So sorry if this one's not as peppy or excited ;3; anyway, let me just get to the point._

 _I had some ideas I wanted your opinions on:_

 _1) I somehow come up with an idea to add Gakushuu Asano to this story. Just to see him bicker with Karma. And hey, if anyone wants a polyamory- WELL SHYT, WE MIND AS WELL ADD KIRITO TO THE MIX TOO ;D_

 _2) ahem, uh, I could add a special guest, Lena Oxton to this story. Search them up and you'll know where I'm going with this ;D_

 _Anyway, I can't really write the third chapter until I have your opinions so what do you think about those options? Also, I need to know, should they stay with Kirito or nah? No matter what, Kirito will hook up with Asuna (UNLESS YOU WANT THAT POLYAMORY, HAHA THE MORE THE MERRIER. im tired), Karma will no matter what end up with Nagisa at least, and Kirito will be the one to officially beat the game. I said Karma and Nagisa would be in the fight of course, but Kirito's still like... you know, the one who'll finish it._

 _ALSO, do you guys want a sequel? :0 Like, I'm motivated for this story just cause I want to write a sequel with Karma and Kirito meeting Sinon in GGO and meeting Death Gun too. But I'll leave the details out for now ;D Just let me know if you're interested :3_

 _Okay so if you're wondering why the sudden location things are present (Ex:_ **November 7th 2022, Floor 1, the path to Horunka Village** _), I was going to add them but the last chapter... it was exactly 7,777 words! Being the OCD person I am, I couldn't ruin it. Hey hey, lucky number 7-_

 _Anyway, please give me your opinions! :D (Seriously, consider the polyamory. At least KarmaxNagisaxGakushuu? There isn't enough of these three in the world- and hey, if you want Kirito to join, he's jus gonna be like "whoops, im gay" so)_

 _Enjoy! Please choose so I can write the next chapters!_


	3. How Far We've Come

_**Title:**_

 _Surviving isn't Living_

 _ **Story Summary:**_

 _Nearly a year after the death of Korosensei, the class of 3-E have tried to turn their lives back to normal. It succeeded; for the most part. That was until by mistake, Karma accidentally pulled his friend, Nagisa, into the death game known as SAO. Well, at least the two had one advantage over Aincrad. They were almost sure that no one else had to train in an assassination classroom for a year. Karma x Nagisa_

 _ **Chapter 3:**_

 _How Far We've Come_

 _ **Chapter Summary:**_

 _The duo have decided to separate from Kirito and progressed through the game. It's the third floor, and there they meet another player, Echo. They temporarily form a party but as they travel through the third floor, some troubles arise..._

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

 _Okay so... I really wanted to write the next chapter XD I tried waiting a week but I don't think I was too patient... Anyway, I'm writing this either way! Um, after taking in votes... I don't think I'll do the polyamory :c and I don't think I'll have Kirito as a main character but fear not, he's going to be in the next chapter and... kind of in the chapters after that... Okay, he's technically a third main character, but it wasn't intentional D: I was planning the next chapters and he was just needed for the story to move on- Sorry :c But he's not in this chapter at least! He's mentioned though :0 Also, I'm still debating over Gakushuu... a lot of people want him in the story but... should I? ;3;_

 _p.s. I really like this song- Also if you haven't noticed, yeah, all the chapters are titled after songs. It's my own kind of motivation :'D_

* * *

 _I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world,_

 _But its feeling just like every other morning before,_

 _Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone_

* * *

 _It was always the same. Every time he opened his eyes, all Karma could see were the colorful walls and floor of the first floor boss level. The fight itself went pretty well. No casualties; all but one. Their leader... A man named Diavel who claimed himself to be a knight. He rushed in to finish off the boss, to get the LA, the Last Attack bonus, and died._

 _No, this memory did not haunt Karma. He knew that the man was actually just aiming for the LA while everyone else thought he was just trying to beat the boss. Kirito told him later that he was a former Beta tester too._

 _Kirito... After being in a party for nearly two weeks after being trapped in this game, they all parted ways. Karma promised to stay by Nagisa and so the two decided to let Kirito go on at his own pace while they stayed at their own. They did friend each other and often times they sent messages to each other about information. That was how Karma and Nagisa got invited to join the first floor boss party when they found the boss room._

 _It was really funny when they ended up being in a temporary party again, but this time there was someone else too... Karma decided not to mingle with the hooded player, and Nagisa did the same._

 _Not long before that, Kirito helped them once more, just a few days before he shot them a message about the floor boss. He told them about someone called Argo the Rat. The information broker of Aincrad and SAO. He informed them that with a price, they could get almost any information from Argo._

 _Now Karma was getting off topic. He was still in the boss room and things were going fine. Diavel charged in for the LA, got killed, and Kirito jumped in to attack the boss with his partner who was later revealed to be a pretty attractive female. Too bad Karma wasn't straight-_

 _"Nagisa!" He called out instinctively as if he's done this tons of times as he knocked back the minions sword. "Switch!" Yes, it seems like he's said this a million times and knocked the sword back a million times. That's because Karma knew this was a dream. He knew it was, yet he still couldn't control himself... He didn't understand why but all he could chalk it up to was his own mind trying to torture him..._

 _Just like always, Nagisa shouted an "I got it!" and took a swing at the mob. It paused in mid stance before shattering into tiny, blue specks. At this point, Karma was struggling to speak. He knew what was going to happen. It happened every time..._

 _"Asuna!" They heard Kirito cry. Everyone looked over in time to see Illfang, the first floor boss, swing his sword down onto the girl's body. After a small pause, her body exploded into the same blue particles that appeared when something died or disappeared._

 _Not long after that, Kirito got struck when he was vulnerable, his senses slowed down after that shock. As for the rest of the raid party, they were dropping like flies..._

 _Karma tried to desperately to shout to Nagisa, to tell him to flee, get behind him, anything. But like always, Nagisa tried to attack the boss like the rest of the living players. The boss was in the red, he was nearly dead...! Finally Karma was able to speak, but only because it was already too late._

 _"No! Move, Nag-" This time he didn't even get to finish Nagisa's name before Illfang jumped before Nagisa, momentarily stunning him. Stuns like this only lasted for about five seconds, but that's long enough to get killed. Which is what happens as Illfang swung his sword, sending Nagisa flying into the air._

 _He never landed before his body disappeared, nothing left behind but the blue specks of digital code._

* * *

 **December 15th 2022, Floor 3, Town of Zumfut**

"Nagisa!"

"Wha- Karma!" Nagisa jolted awake in his bed, looking over at Karma who was now awake in his own. "Karma, it's alright." He tried assuring the redhead instantly once he realized he must have had "that" dream again. He could tell as he watched Karma nervously look around before keeping his sights on Nagisa.

The shorter boy got up from his bed and went over to Karma's. The redhead sat up, taking a few deep breaths. He felt bad for the nurses and doctors taking care of him in the hospital. His heart must be all over the place, freaking out the nurses and everything. He didn't feel too bad though. He'd like to see them go through _this_ without being overwhelmed from anxiety and panic!

"It's never any different," Karma mumbled, brushing his hair back with his hand as he tried calming down. He was sure that if this was real life, he'd be sweating. As Nagisa sat on the edge of his bed, he continued. "It was the same. First Diavel, then Asuna and Kirito, everyone... then you. I can never do anything..."

"Well that's not how it happened, so don't worry okay?" Nagisa smiled, reaching out to place a hand over Karma's. "No one but Diavel passed away. Not Kirito, and certainly not me. So don't let it get to you, okay?"

"I'm trying Nagisa, I really am..." Yet his mind wouldn't listen. Was it trying to tell him something? Or did it really just want to torture his pour soul that's already been through enough?

Nagisa watched his friend worriedly as he opened his menu and checked their friends list for Kirito's name. Karma always did this after that dream...

It's only been a few days, nearly a week after they beat the second floor boss. Ever since then, every time Karma closes his eyes if not sleep, he saw this different outcome of the _first_ floor boss. He told Nagisa about it immediately because honestly, if he didn't tell anyone, he would go mad before they beat the third floor.

Speaking of the third floor, Nagisa really liked it. Karma did too, but he was more focused on not getting lost in the foggy forest and dying. Yes, the third floor was basically like a huge forest terrain. It was very misty so it was easy to get off the path and get lost, becoming easy prey for the mobs.

With a sigh of relief coming from Karma, Nagisa was brought back to the present. "He's still alive..." He meaning Kirito, probably. "Sorry, Nagisa... I woke us up early again."

"It's alright. I get it Karma. It's stressful, this game. Trying to survive and everything..." Nagisa mumbled that last part. Before Karma could respond, he paused as his eyes went to the top right corner.

"I have a message." He informed Nagisa who nodded, silently insisting for him to open it. Karma made his menu visible so Nagisa could see it too before opening the message.

The two glanced at who sent it. "It's Kirito!" Nagisa said with surprise. They were just thinking of him! How odd.

"Here, I'll read the message." Karma offered.

 _"Do you guys remember the first day when we met? You guys said you wished you could fight without swords but with your body? I found something, thanks to Argo. You can't tell her I told you though."_

"Weird... wonder why he worded it like that..." Karma commented. Nagisa opened his menu and clicked on Kirito's name in his friends list. He clicked on "TRACK" then "MAP". A blue map popped up on Nagisa's menu, showing a red dot with Kirito's name above it.

"It looks like he's... in the mountains... in the second floor?"

"Huh? What is he doing on the second floor? I thought he was supposed to be going through the labyrinth?"

"Well, he did mention that he was doing that elf campaign that starts on this floor... maybe that has something to do with it?" Nagisa shrugged. Karma just shrugged back before sending a message back.

 _"Uh, yeah? What are you trying to get at?"_

The message was nearly instant.

 _"Come to the mountains in the second floor. You'll have to come to me so I can show you because... I'm kind of in a predicament here."_

Karma and Nagisa exchanged worried looks. What was it going to be now?

* * *

 _ **[ Unprofessional Author's Note:** Welp, I said Kirito wasn't going to be in this chapter and only mentioned, but haha, I lied, even to myself- Sorry, I didn't plan for him to be in this chapter- Don't worry, it's not for long- __**]**_

* * *

"...Why do you have whiskers on your face?" Karma asked.

"I'd rather not bring it up." Kirito's response was as he turned his head away, his hand hiding the cheek facing the duo. When Kirito sent them that message to come to his location, the two were definitely not expecting to see Kirito in a big, fenced in yard next to some NPC's home, with nothing inside the yard but a big rock. Oh, and Kirito with... whiskers painted on his cheeks.

When this sight came to greet them, even Nagisa struggled to hold in his laugh. It was so funny and adorable! They were really curious about how these painted whiskers got on the other's cheeks!

"Aww, don't be embarrassed _Kittyto_ , you're pretty cute as a cat~ Trying to copy Argo's whiskers, huh?" Karma smirked. Nagisa couldn't hold in his laugh when Karma said that name.

"That's not my name! Come on, Argo already called me Kiriemon!" Kirito cried, obviously embarrassed.

"Kiriemon!" Nagisa repeated with another soft laugh.

"I like Kittyto better~" Karma chuckled. "So Argo's already seen you then? Oh yeah, why did you tell us that we shouldn't tell her?" He wondered if it was because Kirito bought the information. Argo was SAO's information broker after all. She gathered information and usually sold it. Anything from game tips, to secret quests, to meaningless gossip. She was also known as Argo the Rat.

"Uh... she kind of made me promise her not to tell anyone..." Kirito said.

"Why's that?" Nagisa asked, sensing the sudden shift into seriousness.

"...She's an information broker and all, but there's some information she can't sell. Or sometimes won't sell. This is both. Long story short, some people who are... bad news are looking for the Martial Arts skill and they went to Argo. When she refused to give it to them and ended up going on a chase, I had to step in and stop them. In return, she... gave me the location of the quest that unlocks the Martial Arts skill for anyone who completes it." Kirito finished.

So this was the area for the Martial Arts skill? It does kind of look like a dojo from the outside... "That still doesn't explain the whiskers, Kittyto~" Karma teased.

"Karma!" Nagisa shouted but couldn't help it as he laughed again.

"Hey, do you want to skill or not?" Kirito huffed. "Look, just accept the mission and you'll get your Martial Arts skill once you're finished."

"What do we have to do for the mission?" Nagisa asked curiously as Karma approached the building.

Kirito just smiled. "You only got to break that rock, that's all." Karma walked inside the building. Nagisa tilted his head with confusion.

"With your hand I'm assuming?" Nagisa asked.

"Uh-huh." Kirito confirmed with a nod.

"But... it seems so ea-"

" _Hey! Wai- Wh-"_ Karma's voice came from inside before there was a pause. _"Kirito, do you want to f-cking fight?!"_

Nagisa looked at Kirito with shock. He expected Karma to come back outside to jump the fence and try to fight Kirito like he said, but he ran out from the house instead. And on his cheeks... bright red whiskers were painted on his cheeks.

"K-Karma?!" Nagisa was too surprised to laugh. Kirito held up his hands in surrender but he was smirking.

"Hey look, it's _Karmamon."_ Kirito commented. Okay, now Nagisa could laugh.

Karma approached Kirito, grasping his new Midnight cloak that he got from the LA of the first floor boss. "Why didn't you warn me that by accepting the quest, I won't be able to get these whiskers off _until I beat the mission?"_

"Uh... you didn't ask?" Kirito responded. Oh if only Karma could hit Kirito! But he didn't want to be an orange player for the next few days, avoiding people until his cursor turned back to green. "You know what they say, Karma's a bi-"

 _"Fight me at PAX, Kittyto!"_

* * *

 **December 18th 2022, Floor 3, Town of Zumfut**

What Kirito failed to mention before both Karma and Nagisa accepted the quest (yes, even Nagisa accepted even after knowing the consequences of the whiskers) was that they also couldn't leave until they broke the rock in the yard. Which was labeled as an Immortal Object. It was only a miracle (okay, maybe that's exaggerating) that they managed to break it and got their Martial Arts skill.

The bad thing about that was that they spent _three days straight_ trying to break that rock. They could have been spending time hunting monsters or mapping out the towers labyrinth! Both Karma and Nagisa couldn't be mad though... Kirito really helped them. With Martial Arts now added to their skills list, they had a new fighting style. Not to mention that it was close to their usual style.

They didn't have knives or pistols, but Karma was usually better at hand to hand combat anyway. Nagisa was decent at it too, so they both were glad to have the new skill. And if they had to be honest, it was nice to be with Kirito again, if only for a few days.

The three travelled to the closest town and used the town's Teleport Gate to get to the third floor but after that, they split once again. Kirito said he had important business to take care off and ran off. Karma and Nagisa were once again alone...

"Well... I guess we should do something productive..." Karma sighed as they started walking through own.

"We can always go hunting," Nagisa suggested. "We can try out our new skill too."

"That's a nice idea. We should keep leveling up as much as we can after all. When Kirito messages us about the floor boss, we'll go and help the other front line members."

"Huh? You guys are apart of the front lines?"

Karma and Nagisa looked behind them, looking at the stranger who asked the question. They glanced at each other before Nagisa cleared his throat. "Yes... is something the matter?" He asked, hoping this person wasn't one of the people who despised anyone from the front lines, assuming they were a Beta tester. They knew how much people disliked the Beta testers after Kirito was found out during the first floor boss...

The stranger looked a little surprised before shaking his head. "Oh no, I was just asking! I really want to join the front lines to fight and try to beat the game, but I'm a solo player... It's kind of hard to do some of the missions out here alone, so I haven't been able to level up..."

Karma didn't like him immediately. Something about him seemed off. This player looked fairly normal with just short, black hair and simple light metal armor on his torso, legs and arms. He wore a simple cloak too, something he probably bought on the first floor. They did look like a solo player, but they also looked like a noob.

"Karma," Nagisa whispered softly. The redhead looked down at his friend. "Maybe we should help him level up a bit...?"

"What, why?" Was Karma's immediate response. He was busy worrying about Nagisa and himself, he didn't need to watch over a newbie like this!

"Karma, we're all after the same thing!" Nagisa barely managed to keep his voice in a whisper as he emphasized his point. That is true. Everyone's trying to beat the game and get back to the real world. Though some people are going about it as if it's still a competition. Kirito did warn them about two guilds (or rather parties since a Guild couldn't be made until they completed a certain mission on this floor) who compete over who's stronger. Both parties fight on the front lines though.

With a sigh, Karma glanced away. "I guess you're right..." Ugh, now he saw how Kirito felt about taking newbies in your party... He looked at the stranger who was watching with confusion. "...Do you... maybe... want to join our party for a bit then? Just until you level up a bit?"

"Really? You'd let me join?" He asked excitedly before his happy expression was replaced with a worried one. "But... I don't know if I'll be of much help..."

"It'll be fine." Nagisa assured with a smile. "We'll just handle some easy mobs and do some NPC quests if you'd like."

"Hey, I'm grateful for any help! I'm just glad someone's finally helping me!" He smiled. Karma refrained from rolling his eyes as he opened his menu. Since the person of interest was in front of him, he was able to send the invite since he didn't know the person's username yet. When the newbie accepted the party invite, a third health bar appeared in their top left vision along with a name.

"Echo...?" Karma questioned.

"Yeah, it's an inside joke," The player, Echo, smiled. "What about Karma? That's a pretty strange name too!"

"That's my real name."

"I-Is it? I didn't realize...!"

Nagisa softly laughed, gaining their attention. "Oh, it's alright. He gets it all the time. He's used to it."

"I didn't mean to be rude." Echo commented with a small frown.

"It's alright, really!" Nagisa assured, giving Karma a look.

"Yeah, it's fine... I really am used to it." Karma grumbled. He turned away and pulled up his map. "Here, we should get going to a hunting spot as soon as we can."

"Okay! Sounds good to me." Echo responded. Nagisa just watched Karma who walked off towards the forest.

* * *

"You know, Christmas is in a week."

Karma and Nagisa both looked at Echo, surprised by the sudden comment. After a few hours of hunting mobs (they all leveled up which was exciting!), they all decided to take a break back in Zumfut with some food.

They had been quiet as they ate the virtual food- Karma really wondered when they'd eat real food again. Well, it was quiet until Echo suddenly spoke up. Of all things, the world didn't expect this. They completely forgot about Christmas.

Nagisa looked at Karma with realization in his eyes. "Ah, your birthday!"

"His birthday is soon I guess?" Echo asked when Nagisa suddenly spoke of Karma's birthday.

"His birthday is on Christmas actually!" Nagisa commented much to Karma's displeasure. He didn't want random people knowing his birthday!

"Really?" Echo responded. "That's pretty cool. Must suck though... people only get you a few presents or even just one, saying it's for christmas AND your birthday."

"Hmm," Karma just lowly hummed in response, more focused on his food. For some reason on this floor, the NPC were obsessed with adding tons of herbs in every meal, even the drinks! He was just a little glad that not everything had meat in it like the last floor. The second floor was like a cow or bull floor. Each floor had its on theme.

The first floor was the only exception since it was for everyone to get used to the game. The second floor was the bull floor, with cow mobs and Minatour bosses. This floor was a forest theme. He can only imagine what the next floor will be... He made a mental note to ask Kirito later.

"So does this mean you have any plans for Christmas?" Nagisa asked, bringing Karma back to the conversation.

"Not really... I assume you guys do though." Echo responded. Nagisa and Karma just looked at each other awkwardly. They weren't even thinking about holidays or birthdays when they were so focused on getting out of this game. The sooner they did, the sooner they could celebrate these special occasions in the real world. "What? Seriously, nothing?" Echo asked in shock when they didn't respond.

"We don't have the time... We're too focused trying to live, you know?" Karma muttered, his attention going back to his food. He'd rather not talk about this now. It would just disappoint them by bringing up memories from the real world. Memories of spending your birthday with family, exchanging gifts, having fun... There was no room for fun in SAO.

Echo looked a little dejected or perhaps disappointed. If Karma knew or cared for this person like how he cared for Nagisa, he would have tried to cheer him up. But he didn't know Echo and he didn't care all that much for him. He cared enough to help him of course, but not enough to try and get to know him. Karma wasn't that awful. "Yeah, you're right... I guess we don't have the time for it..."

"I-I'm sure there's an event in game or something!" Nagisa commented quickly. "Some kind of Christmas event!"

"Oh yeah, games have a lot of those..." Echo agreed, his smile returning. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

 _What makes you think we'd celebrate Christmas, also my birthday, with a stranger like you?_ Karma thought bitterly. As if he'd enjoy spending his birthday with a stranger. Nagisa was good enough for him. He'd rather have Kirito along. At least Kirito was bearable!

After clearing his throat, Karma stood up and opened his menu to check the time. "Come on, we probably have enough time to do another quest or at least some hunting before it gets dark."

"Yeah, the forests are already hard enough to navigate. We shouldn't get lost out there at night." Nagisa agreed.

"Sounds good to me." Echo grinned.

* * *

"I'm not scared of spiders, but I think I'm really starting to hate them." Karma mumbled to himself as he faced off a spider mob that was just a little bit bigger than him.

"Who's the one who said "hey, let's go into this dark, creepy cave!"?" Nagisa responded after he heard Karma's complaint.

"We haven't explored it yet! Think of all the items and loot!" Karma argued back. The spider started to bend it's legs like it was crouching. Karma knew this meant the spider was going to jump now. He was already dashing to the side when the spider launched into the air.

The spider mob landed with a heavy thud. Without giving it a chance to move again, Karma moved forward and swung his sword to activate the Serration Wave skill. It was a low-level skill that slowed down who or what ever is hit by it, even if just for a second. It hardly does any damage, but it was a useful skill if you knew how to use it.

The redhead leapt back but as soon as his feet touched the ground, he lunged towards the mob again. His movements automatically registered as the sword skill Rage Spike. It was a basic move as well, but it does its damage. The spider was nothing but blue specks of data in no time at all.

Karma glanced around to see how many mobs were still there. There was only one left but Nagisa and Echo were handling it. Ah, it was already dead.

He really wanted to try his Martial Arts skill more, but they couldn't with Echo around. Kirito mentioned that they shouldn't let many people know about this ability they gained since it's one that's sought after and not usually attained.

It shouldn't matter anyway. Echo shouldn't staying with them for long. They will help him get the swing of things then leave him to go find a partner or guild to join.

"Ugh," Nagisa groaned once the spider was destroyed. He flopped down onto the ground, his sword at his side. "I hate spiders..."

"I remember the times we had to avoid them when we were going to class on the mountain." Karma added, making Nagisa smile at the memories.

"Oh yeah. And the snakes and stuff. And the bees." Nagisa continued. Karma chuckled as he walked closer to Nagisa.

"Yeah. We all used to hate them but then Koro-sensei told us about how even annoying insects like bees are needed for the world." By the time Karma finished his sentence, he realised his mistake. He looked down at Nagisa's face. He was still smiling, but it was a sad one. "Nagisa..."

"If you're going to apologize, don't. It's... okay. We can't help but bring him up and think of him." Nagisa responded softly. Karma still felt guilty though. He made Nagisa think of Koro-sensei. They were all still just a bit sensitive when it came to their old teacher. Even if it had been more than a year already.

He didn't want Nagisa to remember him now of all times. He knew it sounded cruel, but they had to focus on surviving now, not focusing on the past. Another reason he didn't want to bring the teacher up was because... Well, Karma got upset just thinking about him too. He helped Karma in more ways than he could count. He helped him with things he didn't even know he needed help with...

"Sorry if it seems like I'm interrupting, but is something wrong?" Echo asked. It was pretty easy to sense the tense atmosphere between the other two party members.

"Nothing's wrong." Karma muttered, his guilt shifting into irritation. Why did this kid have to keep sticking his nose into their business? Okay, maybe he shouldn't call him a kid since he was still technically a kid himself, but at least his point was across. He was tired of Echo acting like they were all best buddies all of a sudden.

"Karma!" Nagisa gave his friend a look.

"What?" Karma responded, confused yet irritated to see Nagisa giving him a frustrated frown.

"Do you have to be so rude to every person who joins our party?"

"Every per- Nagisa, only two people have joined our party before! Kirito and him!" Did he really have to remind the bluenette?

"And you were still rude to Kirito." Apparently Nagisa had to remind him of that though. While he hadn't been quite rude to Kirito, he was still a bit mean. He didn't trust Kirito right away but come on, that was a given. He won't forget the time he practically hit on Nagisa when they were dealing with the tent situation!

Okay, so maybe he has been rude to those who joined his party. Was he going to admit he was doing wrong? No. He had every right to be suspicious of strangers. Especially after this game turned into a trap of death. "Do I not have the right to be wary of strangers? Let me repeat that last word. _Strangers._ I'm just being careful!"

"But we're all just trying to live!" Nagisa stepped closer to Karma. The said redhead felt his heart jump with excitement and fear. He hasn't fought in a long time, especially after the passing of Koro-sensei. But as for the fear, he was scared that a fight would occur again.

Karma had no intentions of fighting Nagisa again. The last time they fought, Koro-sensei helped them battle it out respectfully with paint ball guns and knives. There was no one to stop them now.

Not to mention that Karma didn't want to ruin his relationship with his best friend. In this game, one needed as many close allies as they could get. Even if that wasn't the case, Karma would absolutely be devastated if he couldn't be close to Nagisa again.

Taking a deep breath, Karma took a step back which startled Nagisa. "Alright, I'll admit it. I've been way too paranoid. I'm just nervous and scared for our well-being, Nagisa." It wasn't often to hear the redhead voice that he was scared. "Please don't get mad at me though. I'm just being cautious."

Much to Karma's relief, Nagisa slowly nodded. "It's alright, I understand. You have every right to be paranoid like you mentioned. It's just... we're all aiming for the same goal. We all want to survive and escape SAO."

"Right," Karma agreed. "So... can we call it even then?"

"It's water under the bridge." Nagisa smiled which made Karma softly return it.

"Wow," And immediately Karma's irritation started to spike again when Echo spoke. _Relax, you can pretend to stand him just for a few days._ "I don't think I've ever seen two friends fight and make up so fast like that. You guys must be close."

Karma nearly made a snarky comment but bit his tongue to stop himself. "Yeah. We've known each other for a couple of years. No big deal~"

"Sometimes I wish I didn't meet him." Nagisa claimed. Karma wasn't bothered by the comment. He knew Nagisa was just joking.

"Aww, how cruel. You're so evil to me, Nagisa. What did I do to receive such hatred?" Karma asked jokingly. It was nice to have friends like this. Friends you can fight with (not that Karma enjoyed the arguing part) then joke with a moment later.

"How about all those pictures of my "cosplay"," Aka, his crossdressing, but Nagisa refused to mention that in front of a stranger. "You threatening to cut _it_ off. All that blackmail-"

"You make it sound as if I'm an awful person." Karma smirked.

"You are awful." Nagisa muttered. Stupid Karma with his stupid teasing!

Karma chuckled softly before looking around. They were still in the cave and if they didn't move soon, they'd have to face those spider mobs again. "We should get going. I honestly don't want to face spiders again."

"But this place had literally nothing but spiders and a few rats as mobs. It's probably going to be like that all throughout." Echo mentioned.

Why did this guy have to keep opening his mouth? Actually, Karma wondered why this guy bothered him so much. There was just something off. It's like it was his instincts telling him not to like this guy. Was something wrong with his NerveGear? But the NerveGear can't play with emotions, so he doubted that was it. Maybe Karma was just grumpy today.

"Why don't you lead then?" The redhead assassin offered. It would make it easier to keep an eye on the other and besides, he still had a few things to say to Nagisa.

"Karma? Are you sure? I thought..." Nagisa started to speak but Karma just waved his hand.

"Hey, the guy's gotta learn how to make decisions, you know? He won't be in our party forever and who knows if he'll have to go solo in the future." Karma came up with the fib on the fly. He was pretty good at thinking of lies on the spot.

Nagisa still seemed a little shocked but then he gave a small smile. Karma reluctantly returned the smile. "Really? You'd let me lead?" Echo asked.

"Sure, why not? But we should get going soon before those spiders respawn." Karma mentioned. He'd rather not face those annoying mobs again. If he has to fight anymore in the next few minutes, he might just leave the cave entirely, loot in hand or not.

"Right." Echo agreed as Nagisa nodded. It was silent for a few moments and nobody moved. Trying not to get annoyed by his obviousness, Karma gave a quiet "ahem" to get Echo's attention. "Oh, right! Um, this way! Let's go onwards!"

Karma already regret letting Echo lead.

At least now he could fall back with Nagisa and talk with him.

As the group continued on, Echo leading, Karma fell into pace with Nagisa. He didn't speak right away but he must've been showing signs he wanted to talk since Nagisa nudged him and gave him a look. Or Nagisa just knew him that well.

"I know we're all trying to get to the same place, achieve the same goal," Karma started, careful with how he said his words. "but that doesn't mean we have to let every stranger we meet tag along."

"Well, we can at least help in any way we can. And if that means they have to join our party, so be it." Nagisa didn't even look up at Karma. He just kept looking forward. He probably didn't want to start another argument either...

Karma contemplated just leaving it behind or continuing to speak to Nagisa about it. It was a pretty important topic... Usually a group consisted of close friends. They couldn't trust someone they met not long ago.

He lightly bit his bottom lip, an old habit he managed to relax but not yet destroy. "I understand that Nagisa, but... we don't know anything about this guy. He doesn't seem to have any friends and he's such a low level for someone trying to get on the front lines."

"Maybe his friends died." That was not the response Karma was expecting. He stayed silent as Nagisa finally turned his head to look at him. "And maybe that's why he is such a low level. He was too afraid or nervous to go fight on his own. So he probably came to the third floor to find a group of front liners, like us, to help him. He wants the same thing as us. He wants to survive and escape this game."

"But that's all hypothetical," Karma argued before he could stop himself. He already knew that wasn't a good thing to say, especially to Nagisa. "I mean yeah, maybe, but we don't know for sure. That's what I'm trying to say."

"So what do you suggest?" Nagisa asked, his voice sounding harder. A little lower. Karma looked away; Nagisa was getting mad, it was obvious. Nagisa could be calm and collected, but that was only until his stubbornness kicked in. Nagisa didn't really like it when others went against his ideas or morals. Even if it was unconsciously. Koro-sensei mentioned that during their paint ball fight.

He also pointed out the look Nagisa gave Karma and how much it affected him. To be looked at with disgust as if you were a delinquent or no better than a criminal... Okay, maybe Karma was both of those, but he had trusted Nagisa. He actually liked Nagisa and enjoyed his presence. When he gave him /that/ look, Karma flipped. He didn't want to do it again. Not now. Not ever.

"We just abandon everybody who needs our help?" The smaller male continued, catching Karma's attention. "Leave them all behind? Why? If they want to help, we should let them help."

"What if they get in the way? Wouldn't you rather get to the last floor faster to leave this game faster?"

"And leave the lower levels to die for nothing?"

"They don't have to die! They can just stay in safe zones." Karma explained quickly, struggling to push down his frustration.

"Is that what you want me to do? Again, Karma?" Nagisa asked in a growl.

"Nagisa, I never said that. I do want you safe, yes, but I know you're stubborn-"

"Yeah, I am stubborn. I'm not going to chill in some safe town while you go out and risk your life." When Nagisa huffed, Karma felt his anger rise significantly and he couldn't hold it back.

"You just love being the hero don't you?!" Karma shouted. Nagisa didn't even flinch, as if he was expecting it. "Back at the classroom, you always risked your life. I heard that before I came, you even tried to be a suicide bomber! And what about Takaoka? Getting beat senseless in front of everyone... The God of death... You always try to be the hero."

"I just wanted to help everyone!" Nagisa argued, standing in place. Karma stopped as well, facing Nagisa. "It's not about being a hero-"

"So you can go out and risk your life without a problem but when I do it, it's not okay?"

"No, it's just-"

"It's just what, Nagisa?" Karma stepped closer, starting to loom over Nagisa. "What? Are you finally realizing what you're saying is so hypocritical?"

"It's not! It's not the same situation." Nagisa glared up at Karma.

Clenching his fists, Karma resisted swinging it at Nagisa. "It's no different from anything we've done, Nagisa. We're in a situation where we are risking our lives. It's just like back at the classroom!"

"But back then we had our friends, our classmates!"

"Yeah, who we could trust! We can't trust every single person trapped here. There are probably PKer's out there! Not every one is a damsel in distress or a knight in shining armor trying to escape this game."

The two stood in front of each other, staring each other down. Karma was sure a fight would have broke out if a loud shout hadn't echoed throughout the corridor. They both turned quickly, looking towards the direction of the sound with shock.

"Where's Echo? He's not here!" Nagisa pointed out.

"It must've been him!" Karma said before bursting into a sprint. Nagisa followed quickly. "Why did he go ahead? He couldn't have _n_ _ot_ heard us fighting! The idiot!"

"Maybe he already got too far ahead before we started yelling?" Nagisa suggested. Karma didn't respond and just kept running, looking for any sign of Echo.

It didn't make sense. Echo should have known they weren't following. Even if he didn't and walked up ahead, surely their loud voices would've echoed. He should have heard them regardless...

Another shout rang out through the tunnel. "He's close!" The duo turned the corner. Echo had to be close now.

"In there!" Nagisa pointed to a side room that almost wasn't noticeable since it was so dark in the tunnels, only a few torches every now and then.

As they ran towards the room, Karma looked in the top left corner of his vision to check on Echo's health. Which was completely full. _Then why is he..._ "Wait, Nagisa!" Karma shouted before his mind even processed everything. Something was definitely wrong here, but he had been too late to figure it out.

Nagisa had already ran into the room, Karma right behind him. When Nagisa tripped over a wire in the doorway, Karma knew right away that this was all a set up. It was obvious by the way Echo smirked triumphantly at them before the floor close to the door gave way and they started falling.

The fall wasn't that long, maybe almost ten seconds, but the impact took their health all the way to yellow. Karma groaned as he used his arms to push himself up. After confirming that he was indeed alive, he quickly glanced around for Nagisa. He was already sitting up too. He was also looking up with a surprised face.

"I really can't believe that worked," Karma heard Echo say from the top of the trap, completely unharmed. "I mean honestly, such an old trick."

With a grumble, Karma stood up with his fists clenched at his sides. Could he climb up? How fast would it take him to climb up and slash Echo in two?

Beside him Nagisa also stood up, now glaring up at Echo. He still had that stupid smirk on his face that just made Karma want to punch him. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'd be more worried about the monsters."

Before Echo even finished his statement, Karma already turned to face the room they fell in. It was all empty and dark. There was a dark tunnel though. But as Karma looked closer, two bright red lights suddenly glowed in the dark. No, not lights.

"Nagisa! Hurry, use a healing potion!" Karma ordered, already pulling out his sword.

"What is it?" Nagisa asked as he pulled out a potion like Karma told him to. His health was nearly fully restored when he used it.

"I think... it's a mid-level boss."

There was a low hissing sound as the boss emerged from the dark tunnel. It was a huge, obsidian colored snake with glowing, red eyes. When it rose up, it's head nearly touched the ceiling of the tunnel but now that it was in the open, it seemed to grow even more. Karma couldn't even see the end of its tail!

Around it's neck and body were rings of gold and jewels, creating a contrast against its dark scales. The snake's tongue flickered out at them, dripping with some kind of black liquid.

"W-What level is that!" Nagisa asked.

Karma looked at the health bars that appeared beside the creatures' head. 'Five health bars!' Karma worried in his mind. "It looks like his name is... Ahktar, the Treasure Hoarder."

"Five bars of health? How can we beat that?" They were only two people! And Karma was at half health!

More slithering reached their ears but it wasn't the big snake. "He has little snakes too!" Karma couldn't believe this. Echo lead them into a trap that lead them to the mid-level boss!

"We have to try to escape!" Karma insisted quickly. There was no way they could take on this huge snake. "Go to the wall! Try to climb!"

Nagisa nodded and took a few steps towards the wall. As quickly as he turned, the snake suddenly lunged. Karma didn't see it coming and he could only thank whoever was out there that the snake didn't attack Nagisa. The snake just moved around the room, its body trying to block any access to the walls or the tunnel. Other than that, it didn't attack.

"It's... not attacking?" Nagisa asked, confirming that Karma wasn't just seeing things. He took a look around at the little snakes. They weren't attacking either, just slithering around the giant snake or over it.

Karma didn't like this at all. A boss with no attack moves? No, it couldn't be that easy. "...Let's try getting towards the tunnel. There has to be a way out and if this snake won't let us climb, that's our only chance."

"Right." Nagisa agreed because honestly, there's nothing else they could do. It really is their only option.

After a moment of hesitancy, Karma stepped forward. Just as he did, one of the little snakes hissed in his direction and shot forward, aiming for his leg. The redhead pulled back quickly, making the snake miss and hit the floor.

Other than that one snake, none of the others attacked afterwards. Karma, one foot still above the ground, looked closely at the little snake that missed his leg. It shook its head before wiggling its little body. It started pacing back and forth, looking right at Karma.

He wasn't sure how long he could keep his foot up, so slowly, Karma placed his foot on the ground. As soon as it touched the ground, the snakes head tilted before slithering towards Karma again, slower this time.

"What is it doing?" Nagisa whispered, also watching the snake come closer.

Karma didn't answer. He watched the snake coming closer before he slowly crouched down, picking up one of the rocks on the floor. Other snakes raised their heads, looking alert now.

The little snake was already right before him, it's little forked tongue flicking out. Karma tried to control his breathing as if that would help. This snake wasn't attacking, and Karma might just know why. Those misty eyes definitely support his guess.

Just as the snake started to hiss, Karma quickly tossed the rock. As soon as it hit the floor, almost all of the little snake close to where the rock landed launched forward, wrapping around the rock as much as they could.

Suddenly the huge snake, Ahktar, let out a huge hiss which the little snakes around the rock copied. Ahktar then opened its mouth, revealing its sharp fangs, and shot something black at the rock held by the little snakes. In a matter of seconds, the rock disappeared into little blue shards. The little snakes were unaffected by the attack and slithered away.

"They attacked a rock? Why?"

"I think... They are programmed to be blind." Karma answered. With the way the snakes slithered, it was to feel for where the player was. It's not that they couldn't attack, it was just that they had to find the player who fell in their trap first. And honestly, if anyone else saw a huge snake like this, they might just freak out and try to escape. Good thing Karma and Nagisa practically saw pretty much everything they could see in the world while in their old classroom.

"Blind?" Nagisa repeated before looking around at the snakes. They still haven't attacked them at all yet. It was pretty believable, even if the rock incident hadn't happened. "Then... how should we get out of here? If they attack on sight- Uh.. or rather if they feel us move, how can we leave?"

Karma was silent for a few moments as he studied the snakes, his mind racing to think of an idea. Any idea that wouldn't put their lives at risk.

"I don't know." He finally answered. He carefully sheathed his sword before opening his menu to get a health potion. "It's not like we'll get tired or hungry so we have some time to think..."

"Can we get outside help?" Nagisa looked up at the opening of the trap. Echo must be long gone. He couldn't believe he had been a MPKer. He tried to kill them after they, or at least Nagisa, showed him such hospitality. The thought made Nagisa's blood boil. "Can't we message Kirito or something?"

After Karma used the health potion, he scrolled through his menu and clicked the FRIENDS icon. Instead of a short list of Kirito's and Nagisa's names as his only contacts, the message "UNABLE TO CONTACT FRIENDS" popped up instead.

"Oh no," Karma groaned.

"What? What's wrong?" Nagisa shifted a little to look at Karma but stopped when a snake hissed.

"This must be a special cave. We can't make any contact outside of here. No messages, no tracking, nothing. We're probably not even on the map right now." Karma explained. These types of places weren't common since it was still the lower floors, but they have been popping up recently. Karma avoided these places at all costs, and situations like this is the reason why.

"Then... We really can't get anyone to help?" They only had themselves to escape.

"Unless someone manages to find us, which I doubt will happen soon, then yeah. We're on our own." Karma confirmed. Nagisa released a sigh and put his own sword away.

"How can we beat this? We're not prepared. I'm not even sure we're high enough on our levels to beat this thing."

"Maybe if we had more people but then again, this trap is small. I doubt going into the tunnel would be any better." Karma wished he could sit down. Yeah they won't get tired, but it would be more comfortable.

Both of them stood in silence for about a minute, taking time to think about a plan. A way to get help. Literally anything that'll prevent them from getting hurt or dying. However it's not like they had a lot of options. Everywhere except up, there were snakes blocking their paths. Unless they could fly, there was no way getting out by going up.

"Can we just... book it to the tunnel?" Nagisa asked, breaking the silence.

"Maybe? Those snakes are pretty fast..." They have been leveling up their speed but not as much as their health or strength at the moment, so the snakes might actually be faster. "Also, we don't know what's further in the tunnel. Could be a dead end for all we know." Karma thought aloud.

"I guess... But there's no way we could get out by climbing, so surely there's a way in the tunnel?" Sometimes Nagisa's optimism was reassuring or annoying. Right now, Karma supposed it was nice to hear. His head was starting to hurt from trying to think of different escape plans.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Even if this trap seems impossible, it wouldn't be implemented if it was." Otherwise that would be a jerk move on the game creator's part.

Karma gave a deep sigh. Alright, they had to go for it. The thing is... they had to get the little snakes out of the way first. And after that, they had to jump over some of the body of Ahktar... This was going to be harder than it sounds. After they escape the room, they still had to run down the tunnel and find a way out. The snakes will probably chase them too. Plus they had no idea if other snakes or monsters are in the tunnel...

Okay, maybe they couldn't just go for it. They still had so much to think through. Come on, there had to be some kind of weakness!

Karma opened his mouth to tell Nagisa that they should look around again, in case they missed anything, but said person cut him off. "Look, Karma... I'm going to be straight forward. I'm sorry."

"Hu- What?" Karma responded with slight surprise. He wasn't expecting an apology now of all things. He thought they were trying to escape now?

"I was just thinking how we wouldn't have gotten stuck here if I hadn't started an argument... I know you weren't trying to fight but I still got mad." Nagisa went on.

"No, I got mad first... I yelled at you." Karma wasn't sure if now was the time to make up again but then again, it's not like they had many options to do other things. "And besides, it was my fault for not realizing it was a trap before it was too late. Honestly, we should have been looking at his health to begin with. Maybe if we saw his health bar wasn't going down, we wouldn't have been so foolish and just ran blindly."

"I just... can't believe he betrayed us." Nagisa mumbled. He shifted on his feet but when some of the little snakes hissed, he stood still again. "It must've been planned from the beginning... I should have listened to you. I should have at least been a bit more wary."

Karma wanted to tell him it was alright, that mistakes happen, but there's no more room for mistakes now. Any mistake, big or small, can lead to their deaths. They had to tread carefully from now on. They had to be wary and cautious. Trust only those they know they can trust.

As much as he didn't want to think it, they still had to be wary of Kirito too. They didn't know the guy that well after all. Yeah it's been nearly two months but he could still turn at any moment. Not that Karma believed he really would, but caution was necessary.

Realizing he didn't answer Nagisa verbally yet, he nodded before heaving a deep sigh. "Just be careful, okay? We need to watch each other's backs more from now on. It's how we're going to survive. Together."

"So you really aren't going to try to convince me to stay at a safe town?" Nagisa asked, a smile finally reaching his lips. It's been a while since they genuinely smiled, with all their arguing and the situation they're currently in right now.

"Nah. I mean, I guess technically you are stronger than me so it's not like I could beat you in a fight." Karma pretended to let out a fake sad sigh. He probably could beat Nagisa in a fight but he'd rather not fight his best friend. Now was certainly not the time anyway.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm way too strong for you. Beat you at your own game." Nagisa caught on with Karma's teasing so he decided to return the favor.

"What a blow to my pride. You're so cruel, Nagisa." Karma responded. He turned his head to give his friend a small smile before it dropped. Now was the time to get serious. "Alright... We really should focus on the problem at hand though."

Nagisa's smile faltered. It was as if he had forgotten their predicament. He probably did. "Right..." Nagisa took a look around the room then sighed. "Will the boss just leave if it doesn't sense us? Like if we don't move for a long time?"

"If that could work with any other boss, so many people wouldn't have died." Was Karma's blunt response. "Sorry, Nagisa, but I doubt it."

"It's alright. I didn't think it would work anyway."

Once again the tunnel was filled with silence other than the slithering and hisses of the snakes. Escape seemed pretty impossible. Unless they sought death as the outcome, there was nothing they could do. Maybe... they should accept this. They could at least go down fighting, but maybe this was the end of the line.

Karma hated thinking this. He didn't want to die. He didn't want Nagisa to die. He didn't want them to go down almost two months into the game. He wanted them to make it out. He wanted to see his old classmates again. He wanted to make Koro-sensei proud.

He let out a sudden, soft laugh that startled Nagisa. "Karma?" He cautiously reached out to touch Karma's arm.

Karma didn't do anything about the touch. His laugh ceased, but he was still smiling. It looked more pained than joyous. "What would... what would Koro-sensei think? Is he watching over us now? Would he think of us as cowards for just standing here, waiting for an end?"

"What? Of course not! Koro-sensei believed in us and I'm sure he still does." Nagisa was quick to assure Karma, his hold on the other's arm tightening with reassurance. "He knows there's not much we can do! He's probably proud that neither of us jumped into action immediately like we would have done."

Karma gave no response. He had turned his head away from Nagisa so the shorter male had no idea what his expression read. He decided to continue. "We've come a long way, Karma... I'm sure he's proud of us for sticking together through all of this. And... and if we don't make it out now..." Nagisa's voice was wearing down. His throat was tightening when he thought about them. He didn't want to die either. He didn't want either of them to die. "I-I'm sure he'd... he'd be so happy that we were together until the end..."

That's when Nagisa felt Karma's arm jerk under his touch. After looking down at his hand, he looked back up to see if he could read Karma's expression. It's been a long time since either of them cried but in all honesty, they both hadn't expected Karma to be the one to break down first. Nagisa hasn't even seen Karma cry since Koro-sensei's death. Sure he's shown up to their annual meetings on the mountains with tear stained cheeks, but he hasn't actually witnessed the actual tears itself.

"It's not fair," Karma's voice was hoarse. He was trying to reign in his emotions and failed miserably. "So many people... they're just dying. And for what? Why is it always people around me?"

Nagisa tightened his hold on Karma's arm as he tried thinking of a response. Anything to help Karma. It pained him so much to see such a proud person he's known for years fall before him. "I.. I don't know why. But Karma, please, know it's not your fault."

"We could have done something! _I_ could have done something!" Karma's voice had gained some strength again but by the end of his sentence, his voice cracked and it lost it power once more. "Koro-sensei- I.. couldn't I have done something? Something more? All we could do was stand and watch as he fought the god of death and then we had to kill him afterwards? We couldn't have done anything about the anti-sensei barrier?"

"There was nothing we could do! It was created by the government, there was no way we could have-"

"You're telling me we can sneak past tons of people and steal a _rocket_ but we can't take down a dome? We can go to space and threaten Americans with a bomb but we can't save _our teacher?_ " Karma's voice asked in a harsh tone.

Nagisa knew Karma wasn't actually mad at him but it felt awful. He felt awful because he couldn't answer Karma. Maybe they could have done something but even if they could, they had no time. Time was against them every day, every situation. If only they had a few seconds, or if only they had more time! They thought these things so often, it was frightening. Especially now where if you weren't careful, three seconds was enough to be done in by the right mob.

"Geez..." Karma shrugged off Nagisa's arm so he could raise his hands to his face. He was trying to wipe the tears out of his eyes but it just made more appear. "I.. I can't believe I'm... Even in my last moments I'm a child." He let out another weak laugh then slowly descended into small, quiet sobs.

Even now Nagisa could feel his eyes begin to water as well. This really was the end? But... they always made it out... They used to be assassins! They were a great duo, how could they be defeated by some trap? A trap they managed to escape from even when it was more complicated than this one. But back then they did have Koro-sensei and their camouflage suits.

"You don't blame me, right?" Karma didn't moved his hands away from his face yet. He must be ashamed to break down right in front of Nagisa. "I-If we die here, you won't..."

Uncaring of the consequences, Nagisa took a step closer to Karma to wrap his arms around him. He didn't care if Karma refused to face him. Hugging like this was fine. It allowed Nagisa to hide his own tears in Karma's back. Karma wasn't the only one who didn't want their final moments to be staring into each other's broken eyes.

Nagisa tightened his embrace as he kept his face buried into Karma's back. "I could never... I know you Karma. You'd never give up... You've done everything you could. I'm so.. proud of you, Karma. I'm happy I can be with you now..." Even in their predicament.

Karma once again offered no response. His hands moved up to his hair, pushing it out of his face that was just covered in his tears. He did everything he could? His eyes moved to a little snake that seemed to be moving closer, hissing softly. Did it hear Nagisa move?

He took a shuddering deep breath. "I'm... glad you don't hate me. Or blame me." He whispered. "Nagisa... Look, I.." How could he say this? "I wish we could've... lived longer, you know? To see our classmates again, to.. to continue hanging out." He gave a soft scoff to himself. "I sound... really lame, I know, I just..."

He felt Nagisa both laugh and cry on his back. "It's fine... Please, continue... Don't be afraid to tell me anything."

Anything? Even something Karma wanted to say ever since their paint ball war? Perhaps even before that? No... He couldn't do that to Nagisa. To confess right before they... That seems too cruel to Karma.

"...I'm glad I got to meet you, Nagisa. And I'm so... so happy you stuck around even after knowing how much I love fighting and pranks." He felt Nagisa move away, maybe with surprise when he pulled out his sword again. The little snake was closer now and it wouldn't be long before it attacked. "I guess I just want to say..." _I love you._ "Thank you."

"Karma... What are you..." Nagisa's eyes widened when he spotted the snake. Karma... no, he couldn't! "Karma-!"

"You were wrong at something though. I didn't try everything." Karma finally turned his head to look at Nagisa again. He gave his friend a smile. "You know me. If I'm going to die, I'll die fighting."

Die fighting... yes, that seems so much like Karma. Nagisa wiped at his eyes with a small laugh before he pulled out his own sword. "That's funny... I'm the same way."

"Birds of a feather."

"They say they will always stay together." Nagisa continued to smile even as he turned to face the snakes behind Karma. Back to back... Yes, they'll die, fighting to protect each other. That's how it should be and that's how it will be.

Nagisa felt the need to say something. Final words maybe? But just before he opened his mouth, the first snake made its first attack towards Karma. Then the fighting commenced.

It didn't seem so hard at first. They slashed at snakes that launched themselves off the ground at them and jumped away from the ones that tried mobilising their legs. There were tons of little snakes but once normal sword strike or swing was enough to take them down.

The biggest problem was Ahktar. The boss couldn't tell where they were since the little snakes didn't capture them, so the snake tried to take up most of the room with its body. It was beginning to become difficult to duck and slide under some parts of the snake and leap over other parts. If they so much as touch a scale on Ahktar, they could be shot by that black acid in a matter of moments.

"Don't they have some weakness? A blindspot!" Nagisa called out to Karma as he swung his sword wide, taking out there little snakes. It didn't matter since more would just suddenly show up.

"They're all blind, Nagisa!"

"Now is not the time for jokes!"

Karma didn't even have time to smirk as he concentrated on jumping over a part of Ahktar without accidentally touching it. There biggest concern was Ahktar. If they could get rid of him, they could make a break for it down the tunnel.

When he had a moment to spare, Karma took a look at Ahktar's head. The boss was frantically turning his head every which way, trying to find the two. They were moving too fast so it couldn't rely on vibrations. Whenever it tried shooting acid at them, they were already out of the way.

Karma eyed the jewels around the snakes neck. They looked like they barely gave the snake breathing room. Not that it needed to breathe anyway. "Karma!"

"I think I got an idea!" Karma responded to Nagisa's hurried tone. "Nagisa, when I say, attack Ahktar!"

"Where?!"

"Anywhere!" Karma shouted before moving. He began running towards Ahktar, avoiding any part of the big snake while knocking back any of the little snakes. One did try to wrap around his leg but he easily kicked it away before it got a grip.

He neared the wall Ahktar's head was close to. He'd have only a few seconds to achieve what he was aiming for. If not, he sure hoped Nagisa was fast enough. "Now, do it now!" He ordered as he launched his body at the wall. If it was real life, he wouldn't have been able to kick off the wall so easily to aim for Ahktar. Thankfully it wasn't real life right now.

Nagisa had gotten rid of any snake aiming for him before he took a large swing at Ahktar's body sliding by Nagisa. The snake let out a large hiss before turning its head to aim at Nagisa. Just as it's jaws opened to shoot the deadly code of acid at Nagisa, its head jerked upwards and it let out another ground shaking hiss.

Ahktar began shaking its head wildly and now Nagisa saw why. Karma was holding onto the highest ring of jewels around Ahktar's neck. He was too close to the snake's head so when Ahktar tried turning its body to bite at him, Karma couldn't be reached. Nagisa's eyes widened in realization. "His actual blind spot!"

"This is the strangest thing I've ever done!" He heard Karma shout as he struggled to hold onto the snake with one hand with the other held his sword. The claim actually made Nagisa smile despite their situation. Fighting assassin's and trying to kill a giant octopus was alright, but riding a giant snake? Karma certainly had weird standards.

Nagisa's attention was pulled away when he felt a small snake latch onto his arm. He resisted panicking as he tore the snake away and continued moving. They might have an advantage now but they still had to be careful. Especially now that Karma noticed little snakes were trying to move around Ahktar's body, to get up to where Karma was. Ahktar must be telling them where he was since they couldn't sense him. Now he had to attack Ahktar and defend himself against the little snakes!

"Nagisa! Can you try to keep these snakes off me?" He called out to his friend as he brought his sword up to Ahktar's scales after slashing away two small snakes that managed to slither their way up to them. How they weren't thrown off by Ahktar's thrashing, Karma didn't know. Maybe it was a snake thing. Or the programmers didn't think anyone would have the guts to ride a giant snake. Which, on second thought seemed ridiculous. Who wouldn't want to ride a huge snake into battle?

He didn't hear a verbal response, but he knew Nagisa heard him by the way he jumped onto a part of Ahktar's body that wasn't thrashing around as much as Ahktar's head. After watching Nagisa drive his sword into Ahktar's body and pulling out another sword from his inventory quickly, Karma knew he should do the same. Having a sword to hold onto would be easier, plus Ahktar would slowly lose health due to the swords being in it.

With his sword already poised to attack, he drew all of his strength into the stab. He lodged the sword between two of Ahktar's scales, making sure it couldn't be freed easily. Ahktar gave another pained, almost infuriated hiss as its body moved more frantically, trying to get the two off.

Karma held on for dear life with one hand as his other frantically opened his menu. Thanking everything in life for such a thing as _quick select_ to exist, Karma selected a sword he already had ready on hand. Quick select helped with cases like this. Instead of scrolling through his whole inventory for what he needs, he has it ready right on the first slide of his menu. It was useful for things like health potions and eventually teleportation crystals.

In just a few quick seconds, the new sword appeared under Karma's hand. He grasped it before it could fall and without another moment to waste, he began slashing and stabbing at Ahktar.

Maybe they could actually win. The thought filled Karma with renewed hope. Yes, they could win. They could actually beat this mid-level boss and live. They could live. They would live.

Nagisa was doing his own fair share of damage, although he was mostly focusing on any little snakes that were coming for him or Karma. He was the protector, Karma was the damage bringer. They were a great duo, they always were. It seems like nothing changed about that. Nothing will ever change that.

It's strange though. As Karma was thinking these things, he also thought about how if this was a movie or book, now would be the time something bad happ-

"Karma!" The voice echoed through the small room, startling the redhead. His head turned frantically down towards Nagisa, ready to do anything he could to protect him in case something happened. His mind was filled with confusion when he saw Nagisa looking at him with surprise and confusion too. Was he not the one to shout his name?

Suddenly he got the feeling Nagisa wasn't looking at him, but behind him. He turned his head to look up at the floor that was still open from when they fell in the trap. Two human silhouettes were crouched above the trap. Help! This was the exact opposite of something bad!

Now he recognized that voice that had called for him earlier. "Kirito!" He called out in response. A huge surge of relief filled him. They were still in trouble of course, but he just felt safe now. They had back up. Strong ones at that. They really would get through this. It was almost enough to bring the tears back to Karma's eyes, but he kept them at bay. He couldn't seem like a child now that Kirito had arrived. By the looks of it, the person beside Kirito seemed to be Asuna. A powerful swordsman and fierce fencer came to help. Karma wasn't scared any longer.

He faintly heard the two conversing up there, probably discussing what to do. Karma was ready to turn his attention back to bringing as much damage to Ahktar as possible until he heard Kirito again. "Asuna! You can't just-!"

The rest of his words were drowned out by another enormous hiss Ahktar let out. Karma raised his head to see what had caused such pain to the snake and was shocked to see Asuna on the snake's head, holding on to the rapier she had lodged into the snake's head. Damn... Karma made a mental note not to get on Asuna's bad side. She had a lot of guts to jump down into a trap with a giant snake with no hesitation, and managed to hold onto it better than Karma.

"Switch out!" Asuna called out to Kirito as she took her rapier out of Ahktar's head and jumped down, a hint of a smirk on her face. By the sound of her teasing command, Karma could tell that's not what they planned. He could even hear Kirito's exasperated sigh from above before he heard him drop down.

If Ahktar hadn't been programmed blind, the snake might've been ready for another air attack. But since it couldn't sense Kirito jump, it could do nothing as another sword was shoved into its head. It let out another wail, its body continuing its writhing and thrashing, uncaring if it rolled over its little snake minions too.

Karma gave a short shout when Ahktar made its body hit a wall. His hold on the sword momentarily weakened and when he tried grasping it tighter again, Ahktar did it again. Karma's breath hitched when his grip slipped on both swords.

He felt his body fall until something grabbed both of his arms tightly, stopping his drop. He looked up with obvious shock. Then his face changed into one of confused amusement. He couldn't help but smirk when he realized the only way Kirito caught him with both hands was because he had his foot stuck in one of Ahktar's neck jewels.

"Only Kirito has the speed and accuracy to get his foot in the right place and manage to catch me." Karma couldn't help but tease the swordsman. Kirito looked like he was debating on pulling him up or dropping him. It actually began to concern Karma with how long he seemed to be thinking. "Don't you dare drop me! Look, I'll buy you a good dinner if you don't!"

"At least you offer nice first dates." Kirito replied, his own tone now filled with amusement. "Just try not to swoon too much over me."

"I'm not going to swoon over the guy who made me wear whisker paint for three days!" Karma protested, feeling his face fluster a little. Thankfully Ahktar decided to disrupt their moment by trying to swing it's head towards the hanging Karma. He still couldn't be reached since he was too close to the neck, but the momentum could throw them both off if Kirito didn't get them up soon.

"You owe me a date, don't forget it!" Kirito told the redhead before using Ahktar's momentum to swing Karma towards one of the neck jewels. When the timing was right, Karma let go of one of Kirito's hands to grab the necklace tightly. He pulled himself up until he reached his sword. He grabbed that tightly and didn't let go.

He watched Kirito pull his body up as if he was doing a sit up. The swordsman was able to move himself back to his own sword to hold on. Once he was settled on top Ahktar's head, he looked down at Karma to see if he was okay.

The situation was so strange it was almost funny. No, it was funny. Karma couldn't help it as a laugh actually escaped him. Just a minute ago he was ready for death and now he was laughing without a care in the world. While a snake was trying to throw him off, to top it all off.

"I don't see a reason to be laughing." Kirito responded and yet he was giving his own smirk. "Come on, he's on his last health bar."

Karma paused in surprise and turned his head to look at the health bars by the snake's head. He didn't even realize how much damage they had been doing... Then again, those two hits Asuna and Kirito made must've been critical. "Let's finish this. Asuna and Nagisa are attacking from below."

Karma glanced down and noticed a lot of the small snakes were gone. Some were still spawning in but now with Asuna's help, the two could get rid of tons of snakes easily. Now they could focus on damaging Ahktar and not the little snakes. They could all finish him in a few minutes or even seconds!

Since he had dropped his other sword, Karma shifted his tight grasp onto the jewels again and tugged his first sword out of Ahktar. Kirito had a second sword ready and with that, they were all dealing heavy or quick blows to the huge snake. The last health bar was depleting in an alarming rate. Ahktar was trying desperately to throw off the two on it while trying to crush the others with its body, but it was pointless. In a matter of moments, Ahktar stilled, the snake's body glowing a bright blue.

"We actually... we actually got it!" Karma's cheers were short lived however when Ahktar's body shattered and he instantly began to fall. Kirito wasn't special, he was falling too. They both gave startled shouts before they hit the ground together.

Although it didn't hurt very much, Karma didn't move. His mind was spinning but that's not why he didn't move. He felt like he couldn't. Fear began to fill him. Did the snakes get him? Did Asuna and Nagisa miss some?

His eyes snapped open and he looked to see what was holding him down. "What the f- Jesus, you're heavy!" He groaned when he realized it was Kirito. How the heck did he manage to fall on him when there's a whole open floor?!

"I thought you guys were supposed to go to dinner first?" Asuna decided they weren't embarrassed enough so she wanted to rub the embarrassment in a little bit. Even Nagisa was holding in a small laugh beside her.

"Geez... I was going to thank you for taking some of the fall damage for me, but never mind." Kirito sighed as he lifted himself up a little. Even though he sounded fine, as if he wasn't bothered by the position, Karma could see his flustered face from his angle.

"I expect dinner and a dessert now." Kirito demanded making Karma scowl.

"Just get off! This is weird." Not because they were both guys. Obviously not because Karma had feelings for another guy. It was just weird because the guy he liked was watching some other dude straddle him. And he was _laughing_.

Fortunately Kirito gave him mercy and got off the redhead. They both stood up awkwardly, dusting themselves off or clearing their throats. A bit of embarrassment was still evident on their cheeks but other than that, they seemed normal.

Nagisa approached Karma and gave a hesitant smile. "Um... I got the sword you dropped." He handed Karma the sword he had for his _quick select_ bar.

"Oh, thanks." Karma gave a smile in return.

"What is with guys and getting in trouble so often?" Asuna asked with a sigh, her hands on her hips. "It's bad enough that Kirito goes running off into danger so often. Now you two?"

"Sorry..." Nagisa apologized while Karma was silent in thought. How did they know they were there? They didn't send a message... Maybe they were still traceable?

Karma just had to ask. "How did you guys find us? We thought... this room was one of those special ones. The ones where you couldn't get or send messages or look on the map."

His question seemed to bring some tension to the two. Asuna stayed silent as Kirito pulled up his menu and opened his messages. He couldn't send or get messages from down there, but they could still see their own. "We... actually got a mysterious message."

"But we didn't send any messages!" Nagisa told them. Kirito turned his menu so the two could read it themselves.

 _{ I'm sorry for bothering you but you need to help my friends urgently. I know this seems strange and like a lie, but please know it is not. You know of Karma Akabane and Nagisa Shiota, right? They are in trouble. I don't have time to explain much before the system finds me and forces me out of its codes. They are trapped at these coordinates with a dangerous boss. }_

There was a small line of coordinates for floor 3, the one they were currently on.

 _{ Please, they need help right away. I know it seems suspicious but their lives are on the line._

 _If you save them, please tell them their friends miss them and are rooting for them. I only have time to send one message so forgive me, Karma, Nagisa._

 _I'm cheering you on too._

 _\- Ritsu }}_

"Ritsu!" The two cried once they saw the name. The other duo jumped in surprise.

"Do you know this person?" Asuna asked. She had been with Kirito when he got the message. They both had debated over if it was a trap and if they should go or not. Now she was glad they decided to go, just in case.

"She's uh..." Nagisa started to explain but faltered immediately. How could they explain that she was a computer AI with feelings? Surely they'd ask how and why they knew her. Or how she got into the system. They didn't quite know that yet.

"She's... a friend of ours. She..." Karma spoke up for Nagisa. "It may sound strange, but she's a computer. But... She's not like any AI you two might know of. She's like a real human. Someone... Someone from the outside must've put her in one of our NerveGears or something. That has to be how she sent the message." It must be the reason why she could only send one message. Like she said, she only had a short amount of time before the system found her after she sends the message.

Kirito closed his menu with a thoughtful hum. "Strange... but I'm glad you have her as a friend then. You two looked to be in trouble. If she hadn't sent the message, we wouldn't have known you were gone until you guys disappeared from our friends lists."

"Yeah," Asuna said before her eyes narrowed in thought. "...How did you guys get stuck in this trap? I know we don't know each other in a big way, but I know at least Nagisa isn't clumsy or reckless."

Once he was reminded about how they even got into this situation, Karma gave an angry growl. "Echo." He hissed out. That traitor. They did nothing but offer him help, and he tried to kill them in return!

Kirito and Asuna seemed confused, but Karma was fuming too much to explain. Nagisa decided to step in. "H-He joined our party for a bit to rank up. We thought he was a new player, trying to learn to fight since he said his friends died." That had probably been a lie. "And... we were lead to this trap. He led us here and left us to die."

"I should kill him myself. Nearly got us both killed..." Karma would never forgive himself if Nagisa got killed. And yet he nearly let it happen. If they hadn't fought, they could have gotten killed in a matter of time. Unless Kirito and Asuna showed up before then.

"A PKer..." Kirito muttered.

"This early in the game?" Asuna questioned. If Kirito hadn't already told her about them before, she might've asked what those were. Luckily she was learning quick. You had to if you wanted to survive in this death game.

Everyone looked so serious despite such a huge win. Nagisa frowned a little at the sight. They just won a huge battle. They beat a mid-level boss! With only four people! He knew just what to do to turn this around. "U-Um... So... I don't know how, but I got the LA."

The last attack.

"You did?" Karma asked with surprise. Everyone turned to him curiously. "What did you get? Did you get anything? Is it good?"

"Um... I think it's actually pretty cool." Nagisa smiled. He opened his menu and selected the item that said NEW beside it.

Everyone moved closer to stare at the new weapon in Nagisa's hand. It was a long, kind of curved dagger that had black designs on the sides that looked hand carved. The handle was wrapped in a black, comfortable cloth. The material of the blade itself didn't even look like metal. It kind of looked like a... "What's the dagger called?" Kirito asked.

"Ahktar's fang." Nagisa answered with a tiny smirk. Even he felt proud of his reward.

"Ooh." Karma moved closer to wrap an arm around Nagisa's shoulders, pulling him closer to get a look at the dagger. "Nagisa with a knife... Brings back memories." He whispered to Nagisa only.

 _Oh yeah, that's right. I used a knife a lot in our old class..._ Nagisa was just better at the knife than he was with guns. It felt more comfortable than the handle of a gun. It felt like an extension of his arm, much like how Kirito must feel with his sword.

"I guess you have to level up your Knife Skill then. Good thing you got it early." Kirito mentioned. "It would suck to switch main weapons late in the game." He winced when Asuna suddenly jabbed his side.

"That's if he even wants to use it a primary weapon. I mean, using a dagger must be hard. You'd have to get closer to your enemy, right?" Asuna asked.

It's true that it's dangerous to use a knife rather than sword. The range difference could bring on a problem of life or death, but then again with a knife one could be faster. Nagisa was definitely suited for a knife. He was quick and agile, not to mention he had much practice with it.

"I'd... like to give it a try." Nagisa mumbled. Karma gave a laugh.

"Of course you do~" He reached for the dagger, wanting to see how sharp it was, but Nagisa jerked it away quickly. "What's wr-"

"It has a poison feature! Don't touch it." Nagisa told him quickly.

"A poison weapon!" Asuna gasped.

"Those are rare so early in the game." Kirito explained to Nagisa who seemed to be the only one confused by the awe on everyone's face. "They'll become more common later on, but you're lucky to have gotten that. I'm almost jealous." He joked.

A rare weapon. Nagisa couldn't believe it. He felt so lucky! "That's so cool! I'm definitely going to practice using knives now."

"I mean hey, you have the speed, I have the range. I'd say we're a good team~" Karma continued to tease. "I'm sure we can make something great from this. I mean honestly, why did we not think of using knives yet?"

"Because it's called _sword_ art online, not _dagger_ art online." Nagisa chuckled, putting his new weapon away. "We're slow."

"Not to burst anyone's bubble or anything but... Can we get out of here now?" Asuna suddenly requested. She suddenly seemed aware of their surroundings and was now uncomfortable.

"I don't think she likes the dark." Karma whispered to Kirito as she began to walk towards the tunnel with Nagisa, talking about something they couldn't hear.

"Probably thinks there's ghosts or something." Kirito was glad Asuna didn't hear his home, otherwise she might've sent another punch his way. "Come on, let's see if there's a way out."

With a nod, Karma followed Kirito who walked after the other two. Their walk was short before it was stopped. All four of them laid their eyes on what was up ahead. It was another room, bigger than the one they fought in. And in it was tons of little coins that looked like gold.

"W-Why is there so much?!" Asuna cried.

"T-The boss was called _Ahktar the Treasure Hoarder_..." Nagisa answered, also in shock.

So this was why they didn't get a money reward after killing Ahktar? Yeah, don't think Karma or Kirito didn't notice! So all their money was here!

"With all this, we could probably buy a decent house ten levels up!" Kirito told them. Not that they knew what the floor ten levels away was like. If it was some kind of dark floor, they definitely didn't want some creepy mansion.

"Who are you talking to about buying a house with? We didn't even have our first date yet." Karma clicked his tongue with fake disappointment. "For shame, Kirito."

"It was just a rhetorical statement." Kirito huffed in response.

"How much do you think is here?" Nagisa approached the gold, kneeling down to pick one up. However a menu just opened up when he reached for one. Well, his question was answered. The menu told him how much money there was and an option that said _Would you like to take all?_ that gave him an option of yes or no. "Um, I can accept it all then we can all split it... You all see how much is there, right? Can someone divide it by four?"

Of course Karma was the first to solve that. Being in this game didn't mean his math skills were forgotten! Especially when money was on the line!

* * *

 **December 19th, Floor 3, Town of Zumfut**

After all the money had been split between the four, they all made it out of the tunnel and immediately made their way to the closest town. They were actually exhausted so they just paid two rooms in an inn, both with two beds so no one had to share.

They all slept with little trouble for once. The fight took a lot out of them, especially Karma and Nagisa who done a lot more. They needed this rest. They deserved it... And for once, Karma's dreams weren't plagued by nightmares. He just slept. No nightmares, no dreams. Just peaceful darkness.

When he woke up further in the day, when it was almost nighttime, he noticed Nagisa was already up instantly. It wasn't hard to spot the male since they had a small room. They had tons of money to spend, but they weren't idiots to spend it all on an inn. They'd all probably spend it on weapons, armor, or anything else that could help them get stronger.

Nagisa was sitting in a chair that was by a window. There was also a table there which is where he leaned his arms as he gazed outside. The night skies always looked amazing in this game. It was hard to tell it was all just code. Didn't he already think this before...?

The redhead got up, groaning as he stretched his body. Nagisa glanced over at him before sitting up in his own seat. He cleared his throat to gain Karma's attention again. He lightly kicked the chair on the other side of the table, pushing it out a little. A sign he wanted Karma to sit down.

Feeling like a child about to get scolded by their mother, he awkwardly walked over and sat down. They didn't even talk yet which just added onto the awkwardness.

Something was bothering Nagisa. That much was obvious to Karma. He couldn't call himself Nagisa's best friend if he didn't see these little emotions. Not wanting the boy to over think anything, he offered him a calming smile. "Is everything okay?" He asked, his voice so soft even Nagisa had trouble hearing him. And he was only a foot away from him.

Nagisa looked outside once more before turning his attention back to Karma. He was biting a lip, a nervous habit of his that Karma often found adorable. "Don't take this the wrong way but... back in that trap..."

Karma's smile faltered as he was reminded of the trap. His humiliation at getting caught, his desperation to end it all and let the snakes just devour them, his determination to fight it anyway... He almost didn't want to be reminded of such a humiliating moment. But he let Nagisa speak anyway.

"I don't want to go into detail over it either," Nagisa said as if reading Karma's thoughts. "I just have to ask you something. Before we fought, you were saying things to me. You said you wanted to tell me "thank you"." That's what Karma said, but it's not what he really wanted to say. "You... hesitated. Was there... more you wanted to tell me? I know we were in a tight situation so I thought maybe there was more you wanted to say but couldn't because we didn't have time?"

How did... how could Nagisa tell he had more to say? Ah, why was he even wondering this? Karma already knew Nagisa was a master at observing. He could read people easily, be it by expression or body language. He had a knack for it like he had one at being an assassin.

But what could he say? If he told him anything other than what he wanted, Nagisa would just press him on the matter. But could he outright confess? Now wasn't the time. Not while they were in this game. Karma could tell him if- when they escape this death game.

"Karma... What if one of us suddenly dies?"

Nagisa's question threw him completely off guard. He started at the shorter boy in surprise. He decided to continue when Karma stayed silent. "I just... I can't imagine one of us dying and we still had stuff unresolved. I know you have things you want to get off your chest. I do too. Back there in the trap, you looked so... desperate. I've never seen you like that before."

How could Nagisa see through him so easily? Why did he have such a gift? Karma wasn't sure about this talk anymore. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to do this.

"I don't want us to have regrets, Karma. Anything can happen now and we have only each other. We have to be open to each other."

Exactly. They only had each other. It would be unfair for Karma to share his feelings now. It wouldn't be fair to Nagisa. If either one of them died, it would kill the other inside. If Karma died, Nagisa would feel devastated if he knew Karma's feelings. If Nagisa died instead, Karma would obviously feel like he had nothing to live for anymore. It was a dangerous game that Karma didn't want to play.

"Nagisa," Karma's voice croaked. "I can't..."

"I can't force you to say or do anything, but you know I'm right here. I'm here, and I won't go." Nagisa reached out to take one of Karma's hands into both of his. The touch didn't feel exactly real. It was all just code after all. But the thought made Karma feel strange in his chest. He liked holding hands like this. His hand tightened around one of Nagisa's.

Karma closed his eyes, squeezing the hand only his tightly. Nagisa was quiet, letting Karma choose whether or not he wanted to say anything. He wouldn't pressure him like he promised. He would be patient. If Karma said he didn't want to talk, he won't talk about it any longer.

"Nagisa, I... You know I can't stand the thought of losing you." Nagisa would have teased Karma about it since that was blatantly obvious, but he chose to stay silent. One of his thumbs gently stroked the back of Karma's hand, comforting the redhead, offering him strength.

"You mean too much to me. More than you normally should. I shouldn't be feeling like this with you." Karma was starting to hunch over the table. He didn't want Nagisa to see his face. It must be burning up now. But he was more worried about his eyes that were becoming blurry. He was being so _emotional_ today and he had no clue why.

"How do I make you feel, Karma?" Nagisa asked quietly, sitting up a bit more to move closer to Karma. The table was still between them but that didn't stop Nagisa. He was still a respectful distance though.

"Nagisa..." Karma clenched his hands again, although the one holding Nagisa's avoided crushing those hands. Not that he could in a video game anyway. His other arm moved, leaning against the table as he gripped at his hair. His forearm was in a position to try to hide his face.

 _He's flustered._ Nagisa thought to himself as he calmly watched the scene before him. Karma... was feeling so much. Most thought Karma was heartless or at least couldn't feel anything like happiness. At least when he's not pranking someone for his own amusement. Little did everyone realize that out of all of them, Karma was one of the ones with a big heart. He just knew how to control himself. _Not when it comes to me though, apparently._

"Karma," Nagisa softly called out when silence overtook them again. Perhaps he should stop. Karma obviously wasn't ready to share. He started pulling his hands away but Karma's grip quickly tightened when he realized Nagisa was moving away.

"I was so scared." He finally spoke. Nagisa stayed absolutely still before giving Karma a squeeze to his hand, urging him to continue, telling him he was there to listen. "Our lives... They could have ended today. They could have ended a year ago in the classroom countless times. We're always in danger and... I don't know if I can protect you."

His voice was so soft, it was unlike the prankster. Nagisa found himself liking this side of him however. It was nice to see Karma act... vulnerable. Human. Like he wasn't unbreakable. But that didn't mean Nagisa saw him as something weak. Just something that had feelings too.

"My feelings... I'm so selfish. If I told you, it... It wouldn't be fair to you. What if one of us got hurt? Died, like you said? We can't..." They couldn't be together. Their lives were too dangerous for it. They'd be too worried about each other to be able to focus on other things. Their own lives even. "We can't be..."

"What?" Nagisa urged softly. "We can't be?"

Karma was quiet for a few moments.

"Together."

Nagisa faintly thought Karma meant they couldn't be in a party again but when he lowered his head to get a glimpse of Karma's expression, he could tell it was more than that. Those flushed cheeks, the watery eyes. No, Karma wasn't merely talking about being in a party together.

When he stood up abruptly, his chair almost toppling back, Karma raised his head in shock. His face was in clear view now, but Nagisa had already seen enough. "Nagisa," Karma's voice almost sounded... fearful. When Nagisa pulled his hands away, he could almost swear Karma completely paled.

"Nagisa- I'm sorry, are you- You're mad, aren't you? I-I really... I didn't..." Karma went into a panic immediately. "I- Sorry, I know, I'm disgusting. I can't like another guy, much less my best friend, I know-" He was speaking so fast, it startled Nagisa.

"Please, don't- I couldn't stand it if you... if you left-" Karma was so wrapped up in his worries and rambling that he didn't even notice Nagisa had moved towards him, not away from him in disgust. He only noticed when the boy had a hold on one of his wrists and had his mouth over his own.

It felt strange, like when they held hands. This wasn't what a real kiss would feel like in the real world, but the thought of it made Karma feel ecstatic regardless. He was suddenly very grateful that the harassment code that showed up whenever anything like this suddenly happened between two who weren't established couples or married didn't apply to same sex couples. If it had, he wouldn't have been able to experience this right now.

But what was this? It confused Karma greatly. Was Nagisa not disgusted with him? But there's no way he could be interested too. He never showed any signs. At least none that he noticed... He wasn't a master observer like Nagisa, but he still should have noticed something.

His eyes opened ( _when did they even close?_ he wondered) when he felt Nagisa pull away. His face was still only an inch away however. His hand that held Karma's wrist moved up to hold his hand instead. He even interlocked their fingers to keep a hold on Karma.

The redhead had no clue what just happened and what to say even more. Luckily Nagisa knew just what he wanted to say. "You're not selfish at all, Karma. Not in regards to this." He moved their connected their hands as if to refer to the both of them. "If that does make you selfish though, then I'm selfish too."

Karma's head tilted to the side just a fraction as he took in Nagisa's words. What did he mean? He couldn't possibly mean... "Nagisa, do you...?"

"Now I can see why you were so flustered," Nagisa gave a nervous laugh, his own cheeks beginning to burn. "You're not selfish because I know I feel the same too, Karma."

He felt the same. He felt the same? He...

Karma bowed his head down once he realised what Nagisa was talking about. He couldn't believe it. Nagisa actually felt the same as him? How could that be? How could he not notice? Maybe his fear of rejection blinded him?

"...Back there, I was just..." Karma began to speak again. "I was thinking that... did my life even matter? If I was alone, if I never met you... maybe I would have given up." He admitted. "What does my life mean? Would it matter if I was gone? I don't know. But thinking about you dying... I couldn't give up no matter the odds. I couldn't let you down. I got you trapped in here, I have to take responsibility."

The laugh that left Nagisa made Karma shoot his head up quickly. "What so funny?" He demanded, feeling a little irritated and embarrassed that Nagisa was bold enough to laugh when he was admitting his feelings. The _audacity_!

"No, it's just... real cute of you to be so protective, Karma. I'm so happy to know you." Nagisa moved closer to hug the redhead around his shoulders. He seemed startled by the embrace but eventually he wrapped his arms around Nagisa in return. "I'm proud of you. You risked your life, which I'm not happy about, but I'm so proud you made it out. And you were worried about me all the while. You're all anyone could ask for."

Karma refrained from nervously swallowing and instead bit his lip. "And... could that anyone be... you?"

"Did my actions not speak enough?" Nagisa asked, pulling back to look at Karma's face. He would always savor that embarrassment that the redhead rarely shown. "Of course, Karma. I want to be together. I don't mind. I actually want it. I do like you in return."

"Since when?" It wasn't said with hostility, but with shock.

"Um... I'm not sure if I was interested since the very first time we spoke of course, but... I realised it the night after our paintball war." Nagisa murmured. He seemed to be tired of standing over Karma but didn't want to part yet. He was too busy trying to think about how to explain his side of the story to notice how shocked and flustered Karma became when he sat on his lap.

"Nag-"

"I was just thinking about our fight, you know? When I was trying to go to bed..." Karma could relate, but that's not what he was worried about right now. "Of course I was worrying over Koro-sensei but you were on my mind too-"

"Nagisa... It's kind of hard not to imagine you doing... stuff while thinking about me late at night in your bed. Especially when you're... sitting on me now." Karma finally spoke, barely able to hold in a stutter. Who knew his only weakness was embarrassment. Well, other than Koro-sensei who used it against him to get him to study for exams after he got a lower score than expected.

Nagisa looked confused for a moment and pulled away slightly to look down at Karma. Oh. Ohh... "Oh my god, Karma, I didn't even realize-" He cut himself off as he quickly scurried off Karma. Once he was off Karma, he gave a small pout when he noticed the redhead laughing.

It was a soft, light laugh, different from Karma's devilish laugh. It always filled Nagisa with delight when he heard that laugh, but right now he was beyond embarrassed. "I could hardly listen to your story once you sat down. Sorry, but I couldn't help it." Karma smiled.

"You're... so ridiculous sometimes." Nagisa sighed in response before crossing his arms. A defensive mechanism for his embarrassment. "Anyway... Should we message Kirito and Asuna? See if they're awake yet?"

"Maybe we can ask them if they want to go on a double date?" Karma suggested playfully. Nagisa gaped at him.

"We don't even know if they're together!"

"Well, there's _something_ there, even if it's not affection. Yet." Karma stood up out of his seat. "I mean, maybe I should be glad there's not something going on between them. I owe Kirito a dinner..." Suddenly Karma looked panicked and he looked at Nagisa quickly. "But wait, now I'm with someone! Nagisa, would you be... Um.. Would you mind if I-"

It was Nagisa's turn to laugh. "Karma, it's fine. I know you don't have feelings for the guy. Besides, it's not like two guys can't have a dinner together without it being romantic."

"But can it be with us?" Karma asked.

"What, romantic?"

"Well, yeah... I mean, I know it's a game and all but... it's still beautiful. And we... our feelings are still real so..." How could Karma say this without completely embarrassing himself? "I still want to go on dates with you... I don't care if we're on the front lines. We can make time. If we're forced here against our wills, we can at least have a good damn time while we're here."

A good time? In the game where one wrong move could lead to death? That sounded... nice, actually. Yeah, Nagisa liked the sound of that. "You're right..." He couldn't keep the smile off of his face. They might be in a dangerous position, but Karma was right. There was still some good from this game. It still had its good perks.

"I can't wait to explore all the good things about the game with you, Karma." Nagisa responded. Karma looked a bit embarrassed about his wording, but he smiled back regardless.

"Yeah. It's the same for me."

* * *

 _ **Omake:**_

 **December 24th, Floor 4, Town of Rovia**

For once, everyone could have a holiday. A few days where they didn't have to fight mobs or map out the floor's labyrinths or even fight any boss. They were _expected_ to take a break from the continuous amounts of work and stress they had been under.

Karma could honestly admit they all needed this. And he was pretty glad they had the next two days off. Of course they could still go out and grind or fight mobs if they so wish, but they wouldn't be chastised for not going. He was fully prepared to just relax with Nagisa and maybe Kirito and Asuna if they so choose to hang out with them. But he didn't really think they'd want to spend all of their time with them.

That was the first thing he was wrong about.

Many players, especially from the front lines had prepared this party for a week and planned it for even longer. They all thought they could use a break and what better way to relax than to relax on a holiday with close friends?

The town of Rovia, a beautiful town surrounded by water, was now decorated for the holidays. By the players or by the game, Karma wasn't sure. But he didn't care. It was just so relieving to see something like this again. He never thought he'd be spending time actually celebrating Christmas. Once they got trapped, Thanksgiving and Christmas didn't exactly cross his mind and cause him worry over missing them. He didn't even realize they already missed Thanksgiving after all. But Christmas... how could that be missed? For more reasons than one.

Which brings us back to what Karma was wrong about at first. It was a time of celebration so he really hadn't expected Kirito and Asuna to actually seek them out once the party started in the center of Rovia and asked if they wanted to spend the holiday together. Perhaps it was by Asuna's convincing, but Karma was actually surprised Kirito wanted to spend time together too. No, it's not like Kirito hated them or anything. He just wasn't a "people" person. Then again... this wasn't for a boss fight or anything like that. It was just hanging out, so Kirito must not feel pressured about having others around. Maybe he even welcomed it. It was the holidays after all!

"I'm really glad we get to celebrate Christmas," Nagisa spoke up as the four walked around the celebration, curiously looking at all of the stands and all of the players gathered around, some talking and some even dancing. "It's nice to take a break and relax."

"I second that." Karma sighed beside him. He still couldn't help but feel tense, in case something _could_ happen even though nothing could. Nothing big of course. There might be a scuttle or something among players but that could be solved and forgotten about in a matter of minutes. Tonight was a time to relax and enjoy themselves.

"I'm also just really glad we can still celebrate holidays." Asuna told them with a happy smile, sticking close to Kirito. There might not be anything established between the two, but it really got Karma and Nagisa thinking if maybe _something_ was there between the swordsman and fencer. "And Christmas of all holidays!"

"It's the best." Kirito joked. Even he had a relaxed smile on his face. Hey, he deserved a rest just as much as anyone else!

"The decorations are nice, but I can't help but wonder if somehow the players did it or if it just appeared from the game." Karma wondered aloud. Maybe the game developers weren't so cruel and added these features just for fun?

"Do you think it'll snow?" Asuna asked suddenly.

The other three were silent in curious thought. Would it snow? /Could/ it snow? Kirito had told them all this map used to be a dry, canyon like labyrinth with twisty turns and many dead ends. It still was but instead of dusty walkways, it was replaced by water. Now they could only get around with a gondola they had to build during a quest. But it wasn't as bad as they thought once they actually had a means of transportation. The map was actually quite beautiful now with the sparkling water.

"I'm... not sure." Kirito finally answered, receiving a nod of agreement from the other two. "You know the beta wasn't around Christmas time," His voice was hushed at the mention of the beta test. People were still edgy about the whole beta testers being sly cheats and things like that. "I never saw if this place did snow or not. Sorry."

"It's nothing you should apologize for." Nagisa assured him with another smile. "Come on, it's a time to relax! No more fretting over tiny things. We can do what we want now."

"Especially with our money~" Karma couldn't help but remind them with a purr. They were practically rich!... Except they really weren't. They felt rich but when they made it to the next floor, things were a lot more expensive. They could probably buy one big thing and that's it. Separately, that is. If they put their money together, they still had a lot, but since they split it, it doesn't feel like a lot to them.

They heard Asuna give a soft laugh beside them as they walked. "Yeah, that's true. We could actually go to a fancy restaurant! I think I saw a nice one by the edge of the water! They had balconies for people to eat out on to look over the water and everything."

 _Why do I feel like someone's staring at me?... And why do I feel like it's going to be bad?_ Karma wondered to himself. He curiously glanced around but when he couldn't spot any one watching him, he looked at the others to ask if they felt it too. He nearly jumped when he noticed Kirito watching him intently, a smirk on his face.

"What's so funny?" Karma asked with a small scowl, feeling annoyed that he had been startled by practically nothing.

"If I recall correctly..." Kirito started off, unable to keep the amusement (and was that excitement?) out of his voice. Karma already knew this wasn't going to be good. "You owe me dinner, isn't that right?"

Karma stopped in his step immediately, getting the others to stop. He was staring at Kirito with slight surprise. He... honestly forgot about that. "Wait, were you serious?"

"Completely!" Kirito actually looked a little offended he hadn't been taken seriously. "We may not need to eat, but you guys really don't appreciate the food here! It's still really good. Depending on where you get it from."

Where they... "No way! You want me to buy you expensive foods at that restaurant!" Karma actually pointed an accusing finger at Kirito. That sly, dirty, cunning little...!

"And? What's wrong with that?" Kirito asked teasingly. "If I can also recall-"

"Stop recalling things!" Karma ordered.

"I saved you from a giant snake, did I not?"

Karma had no way to refute. Kirito did save him, as well as Asuna, so he couldn't deny him... He growled as he rubbed his face with a hand. He couldn't believe he had to take Kirito out somewhere fancy and pay for his food. What was this, a date? Nagisa said it was fine before but... He still felt a bit nervous. They just established their relationship just days ago after all.

He still wasn't sure about this, but a deal was a deal.

"...Fine, okay! I'll take you out on some stupid date at a stupid restaurant." Karma was practically sulking already.

"It's not stupid!" Asuna argued but Karma didn't fight back.

"Aww... Don't be sad Karma." Nagisa patted his back encouragingly. "It's just one dinner."

"One expensive one..." Karma groaned.

"Asuna, would you mind leading us to the restaurant?" Kirito asked. It was strange for him to look like the only one who was overjoyed. Usually the others were more excited and Kirito was just the one in the back, enjoying whatever was going on in his own quiet way.

It didn't take long for the four to make it to the restaurant Asuna had been talking about. However upon arriving to it, they were surprised to see two female players standing outside along with a short line of people standing out front. They watched as some people who were alone were allowed inside, some couples or groups. Although some couples seemed to argue with the ladies for a bit before storming off. Whatever was going on, they probably didn't want to cause a big scene. It was the holidays after all. No one wanted to ruin the holidays, especially when they're trapped in this game.

"What is going on? Is that a player run restaurant?" Nagisa asked, looking at Asuna for answers. She was the one who told them about the place after all.

"No, I don't... I don't think it was? We weren't on this floor for long and there's no way someone had the money to buy such a grand place!"

"Well, maybe unless they stumbled upon a treasure like us," Kirito suggested thoughtfully. "Or it was a whole group that sold everything they had to buy it?"

"Seems like a lot for a restaurant on only the fourth floor." Karma commented. If he wasn't a member of the front line and wanted to settle down with a restaurant or store, he would have waited for the higher levels. Then again, you had to start somewhere... And the higher levels were probably expensive.

"Well we have to see what's going on now." Nagisa said and moved closer to the building to hear what was going on. The others slowly followed, staying out of sight of the girls just in case this situation caused trouble. They just so happened to be lucky enough to approach close enough to hear another couple argue with the girls.

"What do you mean we have to show proof that we're together?" The male player asked with annoyance in his tone as he held his partner closer.

"Due to the holidays, we have a special "Christmas Couple's Night" going on, and it's exclusively for couples. Since it has a discount involved, countless people had feigned to be couples to us to get in to that section." One of the girls blocking the door said.

"You're still free to go into the section for every one else unless you can prove you're a couple otherwise." The other girl mentioned with a timid smile. Why a shy girl was assigned to this kind of job, Karma had no clue. All he knew was that asking couples to prove they were together was a bit much... How could you prove it? Kiss? Anyone could kiss!

"Oh... It's for couples only..." Asuna seemed a little dejected by this. She must've really wanted to try it.

"Oh no. I can't spend tons of my money on unnecessarily overpriced food that we don't even need to eat since it's code anyway. Man, what a shame." Karma couldn't hold back the sarcasm in his tone. "Let's go somewhere else then."

"But what if I want to go here?" Kirito grinned. Every one knew that grin. Kirito probably didn't have the best intentions on his mind now.

"Even without the discount?" Karma asked. Of course, that would be so like Kirito. He knew it. Kirito was a secret "A-hole".

"Oh no, I'm not _that_ cruel. I wouldn't want my death by you to be even more painful down the road. And don't say anything because I know you've thought about it." _Well, he's not wrong._ Karma thought.

"Then what do you have in mind? Only couples get the discount." Asuna reminded them.

It only took a second for Karma to realise what Kirito was saying, but it seems Nagisa realised even faster. "Kirito! You aren't thinking of... They might not accept you guys as a couple regardless!"

"Wait, are you even cool with this?" Karma asked Nagisa with surprise. Nagisa was his new... boyfriend (Karma felt a little nice inside whenever he thought that), surely he wouldn't want Karma to run off with other men right after they confessed?

"I mean, I don't see what's wrong with it." Kirito shrugged. Asuna on the other hand looked a bit confused but mostly shocked. At least she didn't seem disgusted.

For a few moments no one knew what to say. Was Kirito really suggesting they pretend to be a couple just to get a freaking discount? Karma would do it, hell, it sounded like something right down his alley along with his pranks and jokes. Ever since he was trapped in this game, he hasn't been able to let loose and joke around.

But he had _Nagisa_ now. He can't just fool around with other boys for a joke or even for a con. But he didn't want to be poor all because Kirito wanted data codes disguised as food...

Feeling a hand on his arm, Karma looked over at Nagisa. He felt his mind falter when he saw his smile. Nagisa seemed to hold a lot more of that power over him ever since they confessed and got together. "It's alright, really. To make it even, how about Asuna and I go in together? So that way we all can get in."

"I mean, the only one I'd trust to do that with would probably be Nagisa anyway." Asuna said. Kirito gave her a look that feigned hurt, and she rolled her eyes. "You're the one who chose to go with a boy!"

"It sounds awful the way you say it." Kirito let a slight whine go along with his claim before focusing on the other two again. "In all seriousness, it's alright if you'd rather go somewhere else. I know how much Asuna wants to go and honestly, it does look nice. I wouldn't mind trying it so if we don't pretend to be a couple, that's fine by me."

Oh, Kirito actually could be sincere.

"I mean," Kirito gave another small smirk. "It is your money..."

Never mind. Karma took back what he thought.

"Know what?" With things like this, Karma couldn't help but see it as a challenge. And if anyone knew Karma, he didn't give up when he didn't need to. He approached Kirito and placed a finger onto his chest in an almost accusing manner. "You're on, Kirito. Let's fool some girls and get some discounted food."

Kirito seemed a little surprised he agreed but then seemed amused. As if he had expected Karma to accept, even if it was only a little bit.

"But for the record, I'm the top in this "relationship" we're faking." Karma added.

"Oh my goodness Karma, it's not like you're gonna do it in front of them to prove you're together." Nagisa said. Karma was worried the bluenette was actually angry he agreed to the idea, but the smile on Nagisa's face relaxed some of Karma's fears.

"Well... Let's go then!" Asuna seemed excited again now that they could go inside. "Let's get going Nagisa. I already have a plan to convince them."

All four got into the line, a couple people apart so they didn't look like a group. Nagisa and Asuna were ahead of Karma and Kirito so they got to see what exactly Asuna's plan was. It actually initiated as soon as they got into line. The two acted like a completely lovesick couple from cliche movies. Constantly hugging, using the pet names, being close in general. When the ladies ask if they really were a couple, nearly everyone in the line groaned that they absolutely were. Their act of being hopelessly in love with each other seemed to have made some of those in the line annoyed or even jealous. They got in without much trouble.

When it was their turn, it was definitely interesting right from the beginning.

"Table for two in the main area? Or are you with a group?" One of the ladies asked.

Kirito cleared his throat, showing he'd take the initiative first. "Um, actually we're here for the couple's night. We heard there was a nice cake we could order that's for couples." They had heard the cake comment in the line behind them so it helped in making them seem like they were actually interested in this couples night.

Raising their hands which had been linked together once they got closer to the ladies, Kirito continued. "My boyfriend over here has a real sweet tooth so we just had to come~" He gestured to Karma with their linked hands.

The looks on the girls faces didn't surprise them at all. They seemed a little shocked, weirded out, and even a little disgusted no matter how much they tried to hide it.

"Oh, haha... Yeah, we haven't heard that one yet." One of the girls tried to hide their disgust with a smile but it was obviously forced.

"Are you implying our relationship is a joke?" Karma cut in. His hand in Kirito's tightened in his fake show of irritation. "The first time we go out to eat since we started on the front lines," He made sure to add that to give the girls an idea of who they were. And that they could fight. "And we aren't taken seriously!"

"Now now," Kirito practically cooed like a real partner would have done. He even had the _nerve_ to reach out and turn Karma's face to look at him with his free hand. "We've talked about your temper. Not everyone has the same views, we know this, right Love?"

Well, yeah, that was true... Karma sighed, resisting the urge to move away from the hand and instead leaned into it. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry," He gave a smirk. "...Love~"

"Oh I'm so proud of you." Karma had to prevent his body from jumping in shock when Kirito let go of their linked hands to bring it up to his face with the other one. Kirito gently pulled his face down to playfully nuzzle their noses together like a sweet couple. Even Karma couldn't prevent his ears turning just a small shade of red at the gesture.

"Sorry but... There's just no way we can.." The other female continued, obviously uncomfortable by the show before them.

"What? Let a couple in?" Kirito let go of Karma's face but made sure to slip his hand back into Karma's. "Then why are the other couples inside?"

"Because they're not... They're..."

"What? Not gay? You have something against us?" Karma asked. He felt a bit of sadistic glee at the girls discomfort. She obviously didn't like that word, or them. "You didn't think ill of us until we shared our orientation. You know, can't you report others for things like this?"

"For what!" The second girl asked, now seeming more annoyed with them.

"Isn't this a form of harassment?" Karma looked over to Kirito who gave a thoughtful nod.

"Even if we were a "normal" couple as some may say, the refusal to serve us is something to report in itself. To be denied because of our relationship makes it all the more worse." Kirito added.

"But... we have a right to our opinions!"

"Yes, you do." Karma agreed. "We never said you had to like us. Just let us in so we can enjoy Christmas together."

"I mean, after everything we've all been through, are we ready going to ruin other's only happy times due to their preferences?" Kirito asked.

The girls seemed stuck on what to say. They obviously didn't want to let them in but they were stuck on how to refute on their arguments.

"Oh just let them in!" The four who had been arguing jumped when a guy behind Karma and Kirito spoke up. Beside him was a shorter girl who looked a bit unhappy.

"We have the right to refuse-"

"What did they do to you guys, huh?" The guy continued. "They just want to enjoy a night out together, and you guys are kind of ruining that."

"But they're not normal!" One girl sputtered. She seemed almost aghast that someone else was defending them.

"Then I guess we're not either." The girl beside the guy defending them spoke up. At the same time, both Kirito and Karma figured out that the short girl had turned out to be a short boy. He had looked a bit feminine but when he spoke, it was no normal voice of a girl. Then again, perhaps this person could be trans. Karma didn't want to assume just yet.

"Y-You're... also..?"

"We are." The shorter boy cut the girl off and moved closer to the taller boy. "If you won't let them in, then we won't even try either. And so will the rest of our friends." He gestured to behind them to a few couples who waved their hands to show they were with them. Most of the couple's were actually the same gender, or at least it looked that way. Again, Karma didn't know if anyone was trans.

"We can't let that many people go!" Karma heard one of the girls whisper to the other. He gave a smirk and pulled Kirito closer as he faced the girls. "So, are we allowed to come inside now?"

The girls seemed restless and irritated. They were obviously defeated. One of them gave a deep exhale and moved to the side. "...Fine. Someone inside will direct you to your table."

Karma gave a triumphant grin and beside him, Kirito shared the same look. The two looked behind them and gave a smile to the couple. "Thank you both." Kirito said. "It's nice to have some support."

Karma looked at Kirito from the corner of his eye. It started to make him wonder what Kirito's orientation was. Was he interested into guys? Girls? Both? He was curious beyond belief now.

"It was nothing. We all know what you mean. We're glad to help." The short boy smiled. The taller one mirrored the smile as he pulled the smaller closer.

Now that they were allowed inside, the two turned to head inside. Karma was about to walk inside when Kirito pulled on his hand. He looked over in time to see him give the girls a certain look before pulling Karma's face closer again to give him a kiss. It wasn't long, just a small chaste one, but it still shocked Karma.

Nagisa and Asuna asked later that night why Karma had walked in with a red face and Kirito with a confident smirk, but Karma refused to tell them. He had to pay extra to keep Kirito quiet.

* * *

 _ **Author's notes:** Oh haha, uh, sorry about the delay! I know it's summer but I got a summer job and that completely drained all my energy. But as an apology, I made this chapter extra long and there in an omake. I hope that's enough to apologize? I mean come on, it's a bit of Kirito x Karma :'D this is probably the only interactions y'all will get between the two though since I've decided Kirito will ultimately just end up with Asuna. I mean that's why they go into the fairy world and stuff anyway. Not that I'm writing that part. _

_Okay, I have to remember everything I wanted to say..._

 _1) The original mid-boss is actually a spider on this floor, but I changed it up a bit for this chapter for obvious reasons :0_

 _2) I know the confession part with Karma and Nagisa seems cheesy or OOC (Out of character). I've been debating if I should have them together now, or later in the story. In the end, I decided it would be best for them to hook up now. Sorry if it seems too soon, but do take in mind they've known each other for years now :'3_

 _3) I didn't incorporate their new martial arts skill in this chapter for a reason. Don't worry, it'll be used later_

 _4) Also, the reason this chapter took so long was because I was changing the story around. I didn't like how I planned the next three chapters so I changed it around until I was satisfied. I'll start on the fourth chapter as soon as possible!_

 _I think there was more but I can't remember now D: I apologize. If you have any questions, please ask! Also, if you have criticism, that's okay but please be gentle on this sensitive heart :'D_

 _By the way, I've uploaded this story to AO3 :3_


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